The Rodina Affair
by JohnnyElRed
Summary: The dissappereance of a friend puts Ferreira in the heart of the richest and more powerful city in the Outer Rim. But like in her adoptive world, not everything shines, and some things are even more rotten than in Karma. Things that could shake the foundations of the GTU, leave it stronger than ever, or tear it down. Because in the jewel that is Rodina, power is just a cheap coin.
1. Business and Pleasure

Ar the contrary of what most crime lords and information brokers of Moksha would do in her case, Sara Ferreira liked to conduct her meetings when the most people were dancing in the club. That way, it would be incredibly more difficult for anyone trying to hear anything from outside.

And that particular night, it would be good for that executive of the Martian Trade League and his son and nephew, that no one heard them making fools of themselves in her presence.

"I will repeat myself one more time, because it seems you are hard of hearing." Sara said stretching on her semicircular couch, with a glass of florian whisky on her hand. "When we arrived at the landing pad, we asked the pilot for the codes. They were correct, so we loaded the packages on the ship, and said goodbye. Our job was to protect the weapons during the land transport from the warehouse to the subport. What happened later is your responsibility, and your problem."

"And I tell you that what happened later, couldn't had happened, unless someone had followed you!" the martian entrepreneur responded. "Back in the core worlds, such incompetence would had never been allowed."

"We are in the core worlds. In Moksha we don't take lightly people say otherwise. But you are new, so I will overlook it. Also, I'm willing to overlook that you blame me of an information leak that came from your own organization. What I'm not willing to overlook, is that you haven't paid me yet the second half of the money you owe me. So pay up now, or…"

"Or what?"

Xabarían then came out of the shadows of the room, cracking his neck and his knuckles, and putting himself between them, and the exit.

The youngest of the group, the nephew, a young black man with shaved hair, rounded glasses and a light blue short kurta, looked if not the most scared, yes the most cautious. He seemed to observe with care the actions and words of his uncle and cousin. The second, a beardly mulatto and twirly short hair seemed to struggle with his anger, probably offended because a low citizen of the backwater of the city dared to talk to them like that. His father, a paunchy black man with a crest, still seemed confident.

"Ha! You wouldn't dare. Do you know who I am?"

"Oh, I know perfectly who you are." she leaned forwards, without moving from her seat, or losing her smile. "The thing is, do you realize yet where you are?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

"This is Moksha, my friend. More importantly, this is Vaikuntha. People come here constantly from both, the inner, and outer halves of the union, looking to disappear into the other. I don't need to do anything to you. I just need to keep you here, and simply make a call to anyone that might be interested in knowing it."

"Like who, bitch?" the son asked with resentment and contempt.

"Alfons Klimczak and his Bull-Sharks, for example."

The father and son freezed with clear fear on their faces. The nephew, on the other hand seemed more in control of his emotions. Because even on Adrestia, Mars, that name was known and feared, thanks to the word of mouth of fearful traders.

"I mean, the richer and more powerful, the more he loves his preys. It truly would be a mistake on your part to be walking along the Shadow Districts at night with all of that fancy expensive clothing on you. Would anyone be surprised if those dirty, repugnant thugs made the drop on you?"

Finally, father and son seemed with nothing to say. With the first finally breaking his arrogant demeanor.

"I… now understand your disposition, miss. We will proceed to pay you the second half of our aforementioned deal. But you need to understand that it can't be right away. With payments of that quantity, our trade has to move carefully to not call the attention of anyone in the DIT. We can't pay you straight away. It may take some time."

"Don't worry, Mr. Folami. I'm a compassionate person. After Byrum, interempires trade has been harsh for your trade. Lot of losses and aborted deals, and finding so much credits can be difficult. So, you are free to go, as long as you pay me under a period of 48 hours."

"Thank you for your understanding, Miss Ferreira. We are grateful you are such a generous business partner."

Almost nervously, Gudina Folami indicated with a head gesture to his son Lencho, and his nephew Mavuto, to move to the door. But as the first of them was about to reach it.

"But." as Sara spoke, Xabarín put himself at the door again. "You need to understand that less reputable partners of your trade in the past, have motivated me to take precautions in this kind of deals."

"Of course we understand." Gudina spoke, as if nothing were going wrong.

"It's not that I suspect you in particular would try to skip planet without paying me. But in this kind of transactions, is best to ask of the other to leave a bail. And in this case, it would be a person."

Father and son did not take time to fix their sights on the son of the sister of the first. They seemed almost happy to hear that words. As if they were waiting for an excuse to get rid of him. Mavuto let out a sigh, more with resignation, than preoccupation.

"Oh, of course, miss. Then, would you allow my nephew Mavuto to make you company until Sunday night as much, while we get to the bottom of this misunderstanding with a thorough investigation?"

"Of course I allow it, good sir. And if you have any clue about the despicable men than stole your cargo, don't doubt to contact me, and I would see how can I be of any help."

"Without a doubt, Miss Ferreira. You have our greetings."

"Goodnight, good sirs."

Xabarín opened the sliding door for father and son, leaving Mavuto looking at him with a neutral indecipherable expression. The martian then took a look at Sara Ferreira, that gestured him to come near with her fingers, without losing her smile.

He did as she asked, but as he was to take seat on the armchair his uncle was sitting moments ago.

"No. Come here, please." she patted next to her, on the long semicircular couch.

The martian acknowledged her, and without giving signs of nervousness, but yes of a little incommodity, he sat next to her.

"You are very silent, boy. Relax a little. You can speak to me, if you want."

"Sorry, miss. I just don't have as much practice on business and meetings as my uncle."

"After the one you pulled out last night, no one would say that."

Mavuto suddenly went rigid, and Sara turned her head towards Xabarín.

"Leave us."

Just as the wessari obeyed her, Sara picked up another glass, and offered it to the black martian.

"Do you drink?"

"... Yes. Thanks."

Sara filled his glass of whisky, as he pulled out his glasses and left them on the table.

"The story behind how I know that is long and complicated, and I would prefer not to expose too many of my professional secrets. I'm sure you understand. But it took me a little while to wrap my head around as to why would you want to steal from your family's company."

"And what are your conclusions, miss?" Mavuto asked in a more relaxed manner, tasting his drink.

"Part of them, only came to my head just moments ago during this meeting. Is obvious neither your uncle or your cousin respect you, so I counted on them leaving you here. This way, we have liberty to talk in private without any unwanted suspicions. Also, I would had missed the opportunity of seeing how good you look without the glasses on otherwise. But I'm more interested on knowing what lurks on your mind than your face. Am I correct in assuming the same goes for the rest of the family and the company? That they do not respect you, or want to get rid of you?"

"It's not that they do not respect me." he looked at her the eyes, with a cold brown gaze. "It's just that my defunct mother was to inherit most of the actions of the company, the day my grandfather got to die."

"Ah, yes. That's the part I already knew. Your grandfather is still kicking, but her favorite daughter perished in a tragic strange accident. Let me add I'm sorry for your loss. You were very young, and you seemed to end under the care of your envious ambitious uncle."

"The envious part would not bother me much, if he at least was intelligent." even with his obvious quip, he seemed more angry than amused.

"So, I assume you do not hold the privileged the same privileged position your mother did in front of the eyes of your grandfather, and that your uncle would prefer the business did not move towards you under any circumstances."

"Correct. If you want more details from my life and motivations, I do not mind to elaborate. But I would like if you pointed me were my mistake was. To evade future leaks in my operations."

"That's the other thing. That's one of the secrets I would prefer to keep to myself. But to ease your mind, I have no idea who the crew you contacted was, and from where did they came. Only than you did it, and I had to say, it was a very difficult track to follow. And I'm really good at it. So I assume you are not only the handsome one of the family, but the most intelligent."

"Thanks for the compliments, but they are not needed. For proper good manners, I have to say you also seem very gifted in the physical beauty aspect, and the mental one. Not anyone could had been able to track me, taking into account all the measurements I take. Even if Moksha is still a relatively new scenario for me. But I would prefer if you elaborated more in what the point of talking in private with me, was. Extortion? I assure you. Neither my family, nor the company, provide me with the assets needed to pay you the amount I assume a woman of you ambition would ask."

"No, no. You can relax. That's not what I want." she grabbed him by the chin, so he would keep looking at her beautiful blue eyes. "What I want, is of you to make businesses with me in Moksha. A personal and exclusive deal."

"Hmf. Interesting approach." he gently moved her hand away. "What kind of businesses?"

"I presume you eventually will try to take control of the company, and the statal sponsorships and privileges that come with it, away from your family, and for you alone. I can help you cover up any of your more illicit operations on Vaikuntha, and if you get to succeed, work for you at an affordable price, while we pass each other valuable information."

"I see." Mavuto finally smiled, and left his rigid posture for a far more relaxed one, rotating in his seat towards here. "I have an idea of the kind of valuable information you could provide me with, from down here. But, I must ask, because I sincerely can't imagine. I'm merely a merchant. What kind of information that I have could provide to be useful for you?"

"DIT security codes." she answered, slowly emptying her glass.

When she finished it, she noted how Mavuto looked at her with an honest intrigued look.

"You are fascinating woman, Sara Ferreira."

"Thanks. I try. Kind of you to notice."

During a few moments, they remained looking at each other with prideful and admirational eyes, satisfied with the mutual understanding they had, and the qualities of the other. Mavuto was the first to break the glance, by looking at his antique watch.

"Well, this has proven to be a fruitful conversation. If there is nothing more to talk, I would prefer if we concluded the negotiations in the morning, so I have time to meditate your proposal." said leaving his empty glass on the table, and getting to his feet. "If you had planned this, I guess you have some room prepared for me to rest."

"Oh, I have. But if you are interested, there is another bed available. But there wouldn't be much rest involved."

"Why would be that?"

"Because it would be the mine."

For a moment, the martian was left without words, while Sara left her roguish smile afloat. It took him a moment to take composure and think his answer.

"Well." he smiled. "I'm not particularly tired today, anyway."

* * *

And they indeed did not slept much during the night. In fact, only two hours before dawn, Sara's bed was still violently shaking. Mavuto, comfortably stretched on it, holding her by the waist, with she on top, still riding him. With her nails burying themselves on his pecs, than accompanied a more muscular body than she initially expected.

The delight for both at the moment was obvious, just from their expressions. Much more for Sara, that after a final cry of pleasure in a night full of it, with the wave of sensations inside her slowly decreasing, let herself fall over him. Letting her head rest on his strong chest, with his well fitted arms slowly enveloping her. There was an smile of satisfaction on their faces, both completely exhausted, with their skins still tingling from the sensation and memory of the lips of the other on it, and still feeling the taste of one another in their mouths.

"Meu Deus. You truly are a genius." she spoke, struggling to catch air, holding tight to his chest until her legs stopped trembling.

"Thanks. And you truly are a master of this craft." he answered, caressing her soft pale skin, while enjoying the floral odour of her hair.

"Kind of you to notice. I rarely motivate myself so much to pleasure a man." she raised her head up, to look him at the eyes. "But you have earned it."

He smiled with satisfaction, and move the woman to a side so he could kiss her more comfortably. She reciprocated him willingly, and may had been on the mood for another round, if it wasn't for the sudden interruption of the door buzz.

"Fuck. Who could be at this hour?" she asked looking at the clock on her night table.

"Probably a drunk prankster, still partying. Ignore it. They are probably gone now." Mavuto said, still wanting to keep her on the mood by kissing her neck.

"Hmm… Probably."

Just as they were starting to kiss with the same passion as before, when they were practically tearing their clothing apart, the door buzz sounded again. This time repeatedly, and with urgency.

"Merda. Why is that I can't have a tranquil night of good sex and comfort lately?" she said violently storming off from the bed, simply looking for her panties.

She went to the exterior door, not the one connecting to the club, only with that and a t-shirt put on, only to have her face shifting from anger, to confusion, and then to worry, after seeing who was in front of the exterior camera.

"But… What?"

She did not hesitate to open the door. Outside it was raining, as it does 90% of the time in Moksha, and Sara did not want her to catch a pneumonia, soaking wet as this particular granddaughter of Kamla Mhasalkar seemed to be.

"Lila. What are the hell are you doing here?" said as she let her enter. "Do you have any idea who…?

She did not answered. Instead, the young aristocrat simply launched herself at Sara, holding to her, while desperately crying. All the anger Sara felt moments ago dissipated, not even caring that she now herself was getting cold and wet, and instead feeling an empathic sadness for the sorry state of her some nights lover, but always a friend.

"... Shhh… It's ok." said trying to bring comfort as she hugged her. "It's over. You are safe now."

"Yes." Lila answered, struggling to find the words. "But Nisha is not."

Sara hold her by the shoulders, and looked to her eyes as she asked.

"Nisha? Has something happened to your sister?"


	2. Personal Deals

"She was… supposed to be there only a few months. She… and our grandmother got mad with each other, and… Well, you know how she is."

"Calm down. You are not making any sense." Sara and Lila were now on the ample kitchen of the first, as the redhead offered the mokshan some sophoxian tea. "Have some. Those pusillanimous philosophers are surprisingly good with relaxing beverages. And will make you a little warmer."

"T-thanks." Lila answered taking the cup between her hands, still titillating even without her wet clothes, and in a warm bathrobe.

"Good girl. Now take a moment to relax, ok? I will be back on a moment."

"Ok."

Just as Sara left the kitchen, she found Mavuto on the hall, putting on his jacket as he finished dressing before departing.

"Sorry to kick you out this way. But something has obviously startled my friend a lot, and she is not comfortable around strangers. I have called Xabarín to lead you to one of my safe houses. You could sleep there for what remains of the night."

"Oh, it's no problem. I understand. And I understand that you don't want a complete stranger putting an ear on your private dealings. So no polite lies are needed."

"Well, now I don't know if that makes me feel worse or better about it." Sara joked.

"Was that Lila Mhasalkar that you lead to the bathroom when you told me I had to leave, by the way?"

"Oh, wouldn't you want to know? That kind of information requires a price."

"I already had been paying it, haven't I?" said before grabbing her by the waist to kiss her.

"Hey, hey. Don't assume that because you have given me a night of incredible carnal pleasure I'm going to be soft on you." she said half jokingly, but palpating his biceps without dissimulation. "Leave now before I change my mind about how I feel about this night."

"Well, then. Until later, Miss Ferreira. It has been a pleasure."

Just as Mavuto left by the door to the club, Sara sighed, and went back with the young rich lady.

"Feeling better?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Good." said sitting to her side on the stools next to the counter. "Now, tell me more calmly, and chronologically. What has happened to Nisha?"

"Well, it was… it began just the day after we last saw you. When you were called out of our…" she blushed, just as Sara dedicated her a charming roguish smile. "Our last meeting. The thing about those scratches, I think I heard? Anyway. After that, I think grandma Kamala might have started suspecting something. I don't know what, because I wasn't there when she and Nisha started arguing. All I know is from the word of one of the servants on the villa. Apparently, grandma had decided that it was time we learned to be "more responsible", as she always likes to put it. So she sent Nisha to Rodina for a time. So she could learn the dealings of the executive branch of the company there. To "value discipline", our grandma said."

"Weird she didn't send you with her."

"That's the other part. She also said that we needed to learn to not depend so much in one another. So she simply put me under her own surveillance and tutorage. That's why I haven't contacted you in the last weeks. Sorry. My grandmother didn't…"

"Don't worry about it, pequerrecha." said moving a lock of hair out of Lila's face. "Tell me about your sister. Did something happened to her?"

"That's… that's why I came here as soon as I could. We… we just heard the news. The… the video call from the company, and the note… the note from the kidnappers."

"Kidnappers?" Sara said with concern.

"Yes, they… Someone entered into her apartment on Rodina. No one on the company knows how. They said the door hadn't been forced or anything, but… I didn't care to listen, I…"

"Chist. It's ok." said sweeping away the tears on Lila's cheeks. "What else?"

"Then… then we received the message. Well, my grandma did. From one of her private channels with the company. They… they said they were the kidnappers. My grandma wasn't sure to believe them, but there was a photo in it, and…" she could no longer talk without interruption of her tears. "Nisha… be banaia."

Sara moved to her feet, and simply hugged her, trying to bring comfort. Even if she wasn't very good at it and, quite frankly, she felt almost as distressed as her friend right now. It took various minutes of Lila's sweeping before Sara could set herself apart from her, and let her talk again.

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. But tell me? What was on the picture? Did they hurt her?"

To Sara's mind, came horrific images of what she had seen done to young men and women by human traffickers on Moksha. Never had she done deals with one, neither had she forgiven their lives. If these kidnappers had done something even remotely similar to Nisha, they wouldn't die. They would live. As long as was medically possible to keep a human body breathing.

"No, no. She seemed… scared. Confused. But she didn't seem harmed. And the note said they wouldn't harm her as long as our grandmother…"

"Money, isn't it? How much?"

Lila denied with her head.

"No. No money. They only want two things. For my grandma to resign as CEO of the Aurora Trade Company… and to sell and divide her shares among the board of directors."

Sara angrily clenched her fists. She loved Moksha. Vaikunta allowed for more personal freedoms than any other place of the GTU. But for other things, that lack of supervision completely revulsed her.

"A hostile takeover then."

Lila's silence only corroborated the answer. Sara let out a tired sigh, trying to keep herself composed.

"How many time did they gave you?"

"They… they simply said until the next meeting of the board for the financial assessment of the ATC with the Department of Interstellar Trade representatives. That's the only moment when the positions on the high board can be changed, with the joint authorization of the Aurora Commissariat and the DIT. And… that's not until after six terran months."

"Good. So. What's Kamala's plan?"

"How… how do you know she had one."

"Because I know two things to be immutable truths about her. First, she is ruthless, and second, she loves her family more than anything else. I guess since this is from inside the company, she can't send her usual operatives, or word could get out to the responsables. She probably has already her own suspects on the board. People that might had tried to struggle control off her before. But she also might be wrong. The smart thing would be to assume anyone could be involved, and trust no one. So, she will need new agents for that. I can provide you a list, if you want. I don't have contacts on Rodina, but…"

"No, that's not needed. That's… that's the reason why she sent me here."

Now, that was a total surprise.

"She sent you here? To me?" repeated, still confused, but sure that Lila would not joke about something like that in a situation like this. "Why?"

"Because she wants you to go and rescue Nisha."

* * *

"I thought of you, exactly because of our animosity. No one will think I would dare to trust you with something like this. But at the same time, I know you have grown… close, to my granddaughters. And you tend to keep your word on deals. So I also know you would be the last person to betray me… to betray Nisha, if things got complicated."

Sara could not believe this. Just after giving Lila a place to rest, and after the morning reached its peak, Kamala Mhasalkar herself had come to her closed club just as the workers were finishing cleaning up the place, accompanied only by her more trusted bodyguard. A human guy as tall and broad as Xabarín, being both of them now waiting behind the seats of their respective bosses, just as the two women talked on Ferreira's office.

Kamala had a very young appearance, even for a person in her eighties. Granted, now that life expectancy for many was around more than a 120 years, that also meant that she had the equivalent age of a person of pre-Tyrum Terra in her early fifties. But even then, the old woman had seemingly taken care of her appearance.

The obvious age lines on her face were softer than most. Her light brown skin battered by the inclement suns of Vaikuntha was clean and polished. And her short hair tight on a braid only started to show now a few lines of gray hair. That was the first clue for Sara to realize that woman wasn't even using makeup to hide her age. Only to look well. She had kept her good appearance by sheer force of will, and a high healthcare level. But even then, not even said makeup was able to hide the utter dead coldness of her eyes.

Sara would actually be enjoying having a Mhasalkar begging for her help, if it wasn't for Nisha's situation.

"Don't worry with the explanations. Lila already gave me the details. But what I'm getting from this?"

"I thought you wanted to save Nisha." Kamala said with an almost condescending tone.

"And I do. But you big business types always liked getting people to work for you for free. And that's simply not happening with me."

"Then you will get paid. That's not an inconvenience." an interactive holoscreen lighted up from Kamala's wrist band, as she started making transactions through it. "I can also provide you with any means necessary to carry out your investigation. Being credits, or…"

"I need a new smart. Full with a false identity, and a false high citizen tier. My tier is high enough to travel off planet to practically wherever I want, so it would not be against my rights to be found on Rodina. But as you said, it would be better to be discrete."

"Permit me to put in doubt your tier proclaim." Kamala said expressionless, without moving her eyes from the screen.

"Hey, what can I say? Down here, you only need to make Terra a couple of services form time to time, and your criminal record keeps mostly clean. But can you provide?"

"Absolutely." said closing the screen. "My bodyguard will deliver you the smart and the physical documents needed as soon as they are ready. Not later than midday. I can also give you a ticket in a cruiser…"

"No, thank you." Sara denied. "I would also prefer a more discrete means of travel. The one kind that would allow me to leave planet unnoticed, so sharks don't start swimming around my territory smelling blood that isn't there. That, I can get myself."

"Very well. If that is your desire. But before anything else, I must ask: how is your russian?"

"I grew up in military and private academies. I know all six main languages of Terra. Spanish is my second native tongue. Like anyone living in Moksha, I have become quite accustomed to hindi. And I have a lot of practice with english due to my time along Ryan's Raiders. Russian, I lack practice, but can defend myself in it."

"Good. It would be an embarrassment if I sent you there without knowing a thing. I don't think we have anything more to discuss here and now." Kamala said moving to her feet. "But I will say this. You will bring my granddaughter without harm, and without tarnishing my family reputation more than you already had done so. And this is a fact, not a suggestion, neither an order. Because if you don't, your name will be the next one to be forgotten. Along your remains."

"I guarantee you. If something happens to Nisha because my inadequacies." Sara looked up, smiling. "I will come to you myself."

In a weird moment that Sara thought might had been an hallucination, she saw the old lady smile to her, just as she and her bodyguard were departing.

"Xabarín, accompany them to the exit, please. Oh. And take Lila to home when she wakes up."

Her loyal wessari enforcer did as asked, just as he always did. Just then, Sara pulled out her smart, and made a call, destined to solve her transportation problem.

"Kaur? It's me, Sara. I needed a favor, if you could… Thank you. Tell me. Are any of your art smugglers departing to Rodina soon? Like, today soon?"

* * *

A metallic knock on the sliding door of the passengers cabin. Sara waked up on the last day of that small ship route to Rodina, in a tight cabin reserved for passengers. Finally, she had learned to remember to keep her head low when moving out of the bunk.

"Time to move, pretty. We are passing the orbit of the exterior planets soon."

Sara groaned in acceptance. She still hadn't grow accustomed to the stench of the ship, or the liberal use the crew made of the word hygiene. But Kaur said they were good at their jobs, and that's all Sara needed.

Also, now she owed Kaur a favour. A favour that the mokshan had made Sara promise she would pay up with a night on a casino in Lobha, and a weekend on a resort lost in the mountains, but with the hope of never getting out of their room. Sara thought to herself that if keeping up with the stench for a couple of weeks was all she had to do effectuate that kind of payment, then she had a pretty sweet life.

And just as you think your life is getting nicer, that's normally when the hull of the ship you are traveling in start shakings with heavy impacts, and the illumination goes off just as only the red emergency lights remain lit.

"Merda."

Angry at having her moment for a shower interrupted, but in part thanking it due to the previously mentioned lack of hygiene, Sara simply calmly got dressed up, and picked her guns from the place she had kept them hidden. Them, simply turned over the metallic desk on the room to its side, making a shield between her and the door.

Because she recognized the "boarding party attack" signs when she heard them.

With the emergency lights up, there was a possibility the door was locked, so she prefered to make her stance there. Just as she was finishing her preparations, and after a heavy clank over the hull, the gunfire and cries of terror started. Then, rapidly started dying out.

A couple more of minutes later, she could heard the steps at the other side of the door, and the voices of people talking in a language she didn't understood, but that even then, sounded familiar.

After the sound of a burst of electricity, the sliding door opened. Sara was still hiding behind the table, only knowing what was happening by ear. But just as she heard the door moving, she just closed her eyes and covered her ears, right as the characteristic sound of a flashbang grenade filled the room.

She opened her eyes, feeling the steps of at least two individuals speaking in that unknown but familiar voice coming closer. And as she counted their steps, and thought they were close enough, she kicked the table towards them to call their attention to it, and fired once each gun.

For all that well that those black stylized armours and space helmets may had protected them before, they were like butter to Sara's guns. More so at this short distance. Before the two bodies reached the ground, Sara jumped over the turned table, pulling her guns back to their holsters, and taking a closer look at their rifles. They were of an unknown model to her. Probably xeno. But they would work either way.

She was relieved this was neither a patrol ship of the local police and customs officers of Rodina, or the ICA. Still, they seemed extremely well equipped for normal pirates, and she didn't knew how big was the ship that had captured them, nor the size of the boarding party. But big or small, she had clear she wasn't going to sell her life cheap. And if that didn't work… well. She can try negotiating later.

Sara picked up the gun of what seemed to be the male pirate, and looked at the indicator of the munition level. It was full. He either didn't shot, or he loaded up just before entering the room. Either way, it could not be better for her.

Sara could feel the steps running down the hall. So she put her back against the frame of the door, waiting for them to turn around the corner at the end of the short corridor. She could hear them running, and probably cursing. Suddenly, the steps stopped. Sara thought they were just taking positions, so she prepared herself, and pointed towards the corridor. Just as an armored head leaned out of the corner to take a quick look, a short burst of bullets shattered the glass plate of her helmet. Then Sara took a step inside the room, and waited for the sudden shoot out of her comrades following.

This was bad. They seemed well trained, and disciplined. They didn't waste too much ammunition on suppression fire, or in shots that they knew most probably wouldn't hit any targets, and didn't seem to run headfirst in situations of danger, even if they might have been worried for their companions. Also, if they had the same equipment as their dead friends, they could flush her out of the room easily with another flashbang, or a shock grenade. So, she needed a new plan.

Just as that first round of suppressing fire ended, and could hear their muffled voices in that unknown but familiar language again, probably discussing if they should try to advance or not, Sara grabbed one of the bodies by the arm, and dragged it near the door.

She let it sitting on the floor, with it's back leaning against the wall. Then, she prepared to shoot with the rifle again, but this time, without leaning out the door to aim, and without worrying about hitting a target. Instead of a controlled burst like before, she kept shooting until almost emptying the gun, with the objective of preventing them of looking down the corridor.

Eventually, as she expected, one of them also shooted without looking, trying to suppress her own fire, or to land a lucky shot. When that happened, Sara stopped shooting, and after a moment, let out the most convincing groan of pain she could.

"Uhnnn..."

Sara loudly let the heavy rifle fall of her hands against the metallic floor of the cabin. And to make surer, pushed the body she had moved with a kick, letting it fall against the floor again, making a heavy enough noise thanks to the armour.

She contained her breath, hoping her deception had worked. After a few orders were exchanged, she felt the coordinated and watchful steps of the assault group moving down the hall. It was difficult to known how many were they without seeing them directly, or to have time to count with how short the corridor was. But by the sound of their feet, they seemed to be three. Four, as much.

She hidded herself behind one side of the door, hoping the bodies would call the attention of whoever entered first too much time for their own good. As that happened, with the first man entering pointing his weapon low, she extended her arm, and another bullet went through one of those stylized opac helmets.

But that was as far as she went. Because as she moved out of position to shoot at the objectives following him, probably remaining a man and a woman due to the distinct form of their armours, the second one moved her head out of the way with almost lightning like speed, and thanks to the short distance separating them, moved forward to push the other pistol of Sara, now pointing at her companion, out of aim.

Slightly impressed by her skill, and before she could react back, the end of the back of the hand of the female pirate went up against her chin, making her almost bit her tongue, and feel the iron like sabour of blood in her mouth.

But Sara got to recover before the next side punch, covering her head with her right arm. With the only important effect being that she got her ribs exposed for a kick from the same side. Before the redhead could get her breath back, the pirate enwrapped Sara's left arm with her own, painfully pressing it backwards to make her drop the gun. Angered, Sara simply moved her head forwards, hitting the black glass plate of the pirate's helmet with the forehead.

Now her head hurted, and the glass only got cracked and not shattered. But it was enough to cloud the pirate's vision. Wanting to return the favour, Sara kicked her near the ribs with the knee. But with the space combat armour, Sara only hurted her knee, and to get the pirate out of breath for a moment. That's all she needed.

With her other gun somehow still fiercely gripped by her right hand, Sara pointed the end of the canon against the helmet. But before she could pull the trigger, another one of those helmets flew through the air, to hit Sara directly in her now bleeding head.

It didn't knock her outright, but was enough to get her to drop the gun, dizzy and struggling to keep her feet. Just as she was about to fall backwards, someone grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her near before enveloping her by the waist.

"We finally got you."

With her vision still dizzy, Sara got to see a face. Wearing the armour of the pirates, a beautiful man with sharp thin features, long black hair, pointy ears slightly covered by it, clear and shining blue eyes with black sclera, and that smelled really good. And in her state, after that hard hit to the head, her response almost seemed proper for a drunk person.

"Yes. You got me. Let's go to my room." said before finally passing out.


	3. Travel Guide

Sara was no longer in her cabin on the smugglers ship. That, was clear. She was left alone in what seemed like a cell, without her boots, the smart confirming her false identity, her bag, her guns, or her leather jacket. Worst yet, this was suspiciously similar to the interior of a Khell'Zen raid ship, if her memories of her service during the Tyrum war didn't betrayed her. Also, because ships whose inner structure were made of solid rock, with metal platings here and there to cover the floor and walls, were not that common.

But something wasn't right here. The Khell'Zen were fierce and fanatic fighters. Theirs was a religious warrior culture, as much as Terra's was a materialistic martial one. They were good on interior corridor fighting, but never as disciplined as her last shootout indicated.

Now she remembered. The guy she saw before collapsing was a khell'zen. A handsome one, with those particularly strange black eyes that some of them had, but still. Now she knew why their tongue seemed so familiar, even if she didn't understood it. She had heard it multiple times before in her encounters with them during the war. But those weapons and equipment they were using were too advanced and well made for them. And so were their tactics. Too well coordinated and cautious for people that liked the overwhelming numbers and fire tactics, and loved nothing more that being sent with their goddess after dying in combat.

Lucky her, she had to met the only khell'zens in the galaxy with common sense.

Suddenly, the door of the cell opened. The khell'zen she had seen before, now in the typical robes of his people, entered followed by a woman similar to him. But blonde, long hair shaved at one side, with her mane dropping at the other, and more human like green eyes.

"Glad to see you are awake." the male khell'zen spoke, with a soft but imposing voice. "I guess you are probably wondering why you are still alive, even if we slaughtered the rest of the crew, and you killed four of my people. The thing is, many in my crew wanted you dead." took a look at his companion. "But I have many questions that need answer."

"Well, welcome to the club, then." Sara answered getting in her feet, noticing how the female tensed when she did so.

"You killed four members of my crew. Three with these guns." said holding one of Sara's pistols as he examined it. "Weapons with munition capable of piercing one of the best armour models Prokopyev has been able to produce, like if they were butter."

"What can I say? I know where to buy them." said with a smile, examining the meteor wall of the cell, as if the whole thing didn't went with her.

"More than that, I assume. We have raided smuggler and merchant ships around this sector for months. Rarely do the seconds have private security as resourceful as you, and never do the first. Even after all this time, never did we got to lose more than one or two raiders for assault. And somehow, you made us lose four by yourself."

"Do I get a cheer for that?"

The female tried to move towards her, angered. But her companion stopped her with one arm.

Sara wasn't provoking them without a purpose. She did it mostly to calm herself down. Also, she knew a little bit about how Khell'Zen warrior culture worked. Kill some of them, and they will hate you as much as respect you as a worthy adversary. Lucky her, the person that seemed to be in command moved more towards the second disposition.

"You are obviously not a smuggler. The ship's manifest puts the redhead woman on board as a passenger of unknown name. So, I think that would be a proper first question. Who are you?"

Sara alternated looks between her both captors.

"Elena. Elena Cassmeyer."

"It's that your real name?"

"Does it matter?"

"No. No, I guess it doesn't." the male khell'zen looked down, and smiled to himself. "Tell me, Elena. What were you doing in that ship?"

"Hmf. Wouldn't be the polite thing for you to do to give me your names?"

"Don't try to evade our questions." the blonde khell'zen said, before getting interrupted by her boss.

"I'm Faelán. Faelán Njáll. This is my sister in battle and blood, Runí."

"A pleasure to meet you both. Wish it was in more amicable circumstances."

"Were amicable circumstances what got you to travel here?" Faelán asked.

"No. Business circumstances."

She noted the interest in both. Of course they would be interested. For much spiritual nonsense they may spit, the Khell'Zen were still raiders and marauders. They liked money as much as anyone.

"I don't really care why or how a group of Khell'Zen raiders ended up so deep in human space. But was the reason you attacked the ship I was in chance, or something previously planned?"

"Didn't we made that kind of question first?" Runí spoke.

"True. But like I said, I don't really care, as long as your motivations don't go against my interests."

"We have been keeping an eye on the art smugglers of Vaikuntha from a time." Faelán continued. "A lot of money for a small and light merchandise. Easy to handle. And buyers don't care much about who sells to them, as long as the material is in good shape."

"It's more complex than that. But I like your ambition. My business, on the other hand, is a more private matter."

"If you think you can get away without telling…"

"Runí." her brother scolded her.

"... Like I was saying, is a private matter, but not mine. Let's just say a stupidly rich member of a trade family clan, has asked me to recover someone. A person of very special value to them. And to do so, they have given me a practically bottomless credit pool, and the means to go unnoticed. Problem is, I don't know Volga or Rodina. And a different friend of mine, had offered a member of the whole crew you killed, to act as my guide on Novaya Moskva. Now I need a new guide. One you can provide me, if you are interested."

The siblings looked at eachother, unsure of her words.

"You have anything to back up those claims?" Faelán asked.

"Not anything that would not betray my anonimatum if I share it."

"How many?" Runí asked. "How many credits did you offered to your last guide?"

"Not enough that would prevent me from doubling the offer if I wanted to."

The khell'zen looked at eachother again, still dubious.

"Hey, if I'm lying, you only take the risk of losing time. Besides, if that happened, I'm sure whoever you send to accompany me, would find a very painful place where to stab me back."

"You mean the same kind of guide as one of the four raiders that you dispatched in less than five minutes?"

"What can I say? If you want to make good business, you have to be willing to take risks."

Faelán laughed and smiled, amused by her words.

"Runí." he looked to his sister, giving her Sara's gun. "Make sure Miss Cassmeyer gets all her belongings back, and them accompany her to Volga in one of our shuttles. You will be her guide in the city. And if she ends up not keeping her word... Well." he smiled back at Sara. "Just end what you started in the smuggler's ship."

Runí smiled in approval. Making Sara to start having some doubts about her plan to get out of there.

* * *

"Are you really going to move around only armed with that?" Sara asked, as she checked that all the contents of her small travel bag were still there.

After having ditched her robes for a better suited, but still very plain, leather suit, the khell'zen found places to hide a dagger in one of her boots, and a collapsable carbon fiber electric blade behind her back.

"Yes. What's the problem?" Runí answered. "These are still more honorables weapons than the ones you are carrying."

"I'm not discussing that." said zipping the bag. "I'm discussing their practicality."

"I assure you, this is more than I need to deal with my enemies."

"Maybe. But if right now, I decided to shoot you and escape…"

Sara moved one hand under her jacket, only to find Runí's dagger pressing against the skin of her throat a moment later, with the mentioned leaning towards her with a prideful smile.

"Please. Do try."

"... You should smile more. You have a beautiful smile." Sara answered playfully, after a moment of initial surprise, leaving the khell'zen thoroughly confused.

"You are a weird woman." she hide her dagger again. "You tease death as if you did not fear it."

"Oh, I do fear death." said moving towards the door. "But I don't want her to notice when it finally comes."

As they left the checking room, moving through a long tunnel connecting to another asteroid, Sara took a better look at her current environment. She was mistaken before. The cell she had been briefly imprisoned in was not in a khell'zen ship. It was in the khell'zen base.

Hidden among the gigantic and dense asteroid belt of the system, the khell'zen had ingrained their habitats within the rockbed of several interconnected meteors. The perfect hiding spot for any smuggler or pirate, since the sensors and scanners of the local authorities would hardly go through the thick rock mass, and the high metal content of most of the asteroids would make most readings results unreliable. Their only real fear of being spotted, came from rival crews and bands, and mining ships searching for new extraction points.

The tunnel they now were moving through, connected the main quarters of the at least one hundred khell'zen expatriates working for Faelán, and one of the many hangars surrounding the base. Speaking of which.

"So, what is our itinerary for the trip?" Sara asked.

"The pilot will leave us in one of our many safehouse in the outskirts of the towns surrounding Novaya Moskva. We can't land too close without being spotted, so it will still be a twenty minutes trip in car to the town. After that, we can take a train directly to Novaya. It won't raise suspicions. In the long and harsh winters of Volga, train is many times the safest and only available way of communication between cities."

"Hey, don't go so fast. There are many urgent things to be done before we make the final trip to Novaya."

"Like what?"

* * *

"Grown… beef." the khell'zen kept repeating, still dumbfounded. "The very first urgent thing to do for the sake of your task… was to stop in a restaurant and order a steak of Volga grown beef."

"Hey. Do you know how much time has passed since my last decent meal? Two. Weeks. Two weeks of travel in a stinky rusty ship, living of dehydrated food. This was an emergency for the sake of my sanity. Besides." said while cutting another piece from the beef on her plate. "I have always heard you can never leave Volga without proving its beef."

"By Her demise. Why were you the person they chose for this job again?"

"Because I would be the last person their enemies would think they would contract. Are you sure you don't want to eat anything?"

"I wonder why that might be. And no, thank you."

"Suit yourself. By the way, do you have any idea what the trend on Novaya is now? I need to buy new clothes."

"Ok. Really. What is the emergency on that one?"

"That I need to change my appearance a little to evade recognition, just in case. And to make me easier to blend in. Paying with the cash I have on my bag, of course. No electronic trail to follow. Also, you should relax, and pull that stick out of your ass. You are very weird for a khell'zen. Most I have known, are very carefree on their attitude. They barely take anything more seriously than necessary."

"And you are very difficult to work with coming from a society as disciplined as Terra."

"Oh. Is that why you are here? Why you were so well trained? To learn something from us after we kicked your ass in Yamato several times?"

Runí moved to her feet as she hitted the door. Sara thought maybe talking about it so loudly might had been a mistake. The khell'zen had the tip of her pointy pierced ears covered with plastic prosthetics, or at least in the one to the shaved side of her hair it was, but their words could betray them if anyone had been paying attention. Like the rest of the restaurant were seem to be doing right now.

"Had my captain not ordered me otherwise, I would had stabbed you in the neck already."

"Shhh… You can vent your frustration on me later if you want. But right now, we better remain discrete."

The blond fury buffed, before returning to her seat.

"But is a relief to know you can lose your nerve."

"Why is that so? Because that might make me careless and you could try to take advantage of that?"

"No." Sara said picking up her glass of coke. "Because I think it suits you better, and you look prettier when you are angry."

For a moment, Sara would have sweared she had got to catch a smile from Runí, just as she rolled her eyes.

* * *

This was not her usual style, but it still suited her. Sara now weared an adjusted black suit with a military style coat, with red lines along the boarders and the pockets. She also collected her hair in a fitting ponytail, so she could blend a little better with the rest of the formal passengers of first class.

Runí, in the other hand, did not need any ticket or cabin. She found herself a perfect hiding spot in the baggage wagon. Maybe a little cold, but she said she didn't care. The only other passenger sharing cabin with Sara was a feline looking fellow of orange fur. Of the Curator Order, if the blue and gold robes served as an indicator, along the intellectual demeanor the glasses and the paper book by his side gave him.

They were not an unusual sight on terran space. Or at least, not in the universities and other investigation institutions. The erudites and researches that parted from their station on the Eye of Hawking worked very often with human scholars as part of they shared research programs. Quite beneficial for the GTU, but not everyone in there saw it that way.

One of that such people was one of the passengers the train had picked up in the last station. A high status businessman, that after finding his seat in the cabin with Sara and the curator, immediately got out again, and went to talk with the usher of the wagon.

Not long after, said usher in his white clean uniform, appeared in the cabin followed by the mentioned new passenger.

"Is something wrong, sir?" the curator asked, seeing the commotion.

"May I see your ticket, please?" the usher asked, without bothering to hear him out.

"Oh, uhm, of course. But I already showed…"

"Just do what he asked, cat." the passenger interjected.

Sara rolled her eyes, looking at the window, and trying to ignore what was happening as if the thing had nothing to do with her.

The curator passed the usher his green first class ticket, as the passenger behind him seemed shocked of seeing it.

"What? How do you got it? What citizen tier are you?" he asked.

"I… I have no tier. Technically, I'm not a terran citizen. But the members of my order have special rights respect to…"

"Even so, sir." the usher interrupted. "If your presence here is bothering other passengers, I have to ask of you to move to third class."

"But… I don't understand. I have showed you my first class ticket. Is it not…?"

"It is, sir, but that's not the cuestion. Is policy of the company to move to a lesser class passengers that are bothering others."

"Is that so?" Sara finally intervened.

"Sorrry, miss?" the usher said.

"Well, if that is the policy of the company, can I also ask to remove a passenger that is bothering me?"

"Of course, miss. But…"

"Good."

The redhead took a long look at the curator, making him nervous about having another person against him, and then, pointed directly with her arm at the passenger behind the usher.

"Then I ask of you to remove that man, sir. She is bothering me."

"What?" the businessman reacted offended. "Nonsense! I didn't do anything."

"I have had quite a quiet trip until now, when you have ushered in with your demands and screams, getting me out of my good mood. If you want to remove this gentleman from here because it bothers you, fine. But I ask you to also be consequent with your actions, and also remove yourself to third class, because you are bothering me. Unless the usher here has any reason to apply rules arbitrarily as he sees fit, because then I would simply usher a formal complaint against his bosses."

The passenger and the usher remained silent, not sure of what to answer. After a moment, the usher turned back, and directed himself towards the passenger.

"I can give you another spot in a cabin in this wagon as you see fit, sir."

"... Yes. Yes, let's do that." said the passenger before turning around with him, as the door of the cabin closed behind both.

Then Sara turned to look through the window again, with a cocky smile, as if nothing had happened.

"Thank you, miss." the curator said bowing his head, and a shy tone.

"It's nothing." she said without even looking at him.

"Oh, but is more than what many would bother to do. Since I left the old sacred temple of my order to study among your people, I have had a few experiences like this. But never this unpleasant."

"Where had you been before, mister…?

"Larkin. Call me simply Larkin. And I had been only before in the astronomy department of the Federal Central University of Acadia. It was recently that I got moved to Volga to continue my studies."

"Really? I'm Elena, by the way. Beautiful planet, I have heard. And people on the core worlds and commissariats are more accustomed to treat with xenos than here on the outer rim. So I wouldn't hold this against them. They just not know any better."

"Oh, I understand absolutely." Larkin said, fitting his glasses. "I know how dangerous and divisive ignorance can be. That's one of the main reasons our order was founded. But still, I find curious how dismissive many of you are of faraxians and polenians, but at the same time, the well regard there is for the wessari. Or even the khell'zen, when you need more private means of security."

"It has to do with our past experiences with them. But there have been improvements in the law and treatment of them recently. I personally hold no grudges against xenos. I have worked with many. But the most recent decisions of the National Council have stirred up the ire of the most xenophobic factions in the union."

"Yes, I know. I'm glad your High Marshall is now trying to make amends with the rest of the galaxy, and pursue the ban of xenophobic demonstrations and a better understanding with other species."

"It's not like is going to stick, but is nice to see someone try." Sara said before turning her attention back to the window, and the beautiful snow filled planes of the planet.

"That's... quite cynical to say. It's true I have encountered with many of those ignorant individuals, but others..."

"Then you haven't lived among us enough time." she interrupted. "Believe me, Larkin. The GTU is not going to renounce to almost three centuries of isolationism and xenophobia so easily. Because when you try to corner a big enough bear, he is destined to bite back."


	4. Following Leads

The central station of Lisa in Novaya Moskva was probably one of the most active and tumultuous places on the planet. Coming from Karma, Sara was no stranger to crowded areas in a big populated city. But even then, the amount of people and the size of Novaya Moskva astonished her.

Unlike Karma, were the scarce and vertical nature of the terrain always limited the city growth, here the buildings seemed to sprawl beyond the line of the horizon. Gravicars and other high status vehicles flew under the overcasted white skies like colored shining butterflies, with small flakes falling from the clouds, covering the streets and roofs in a white soft mass, that made the clean reflecting surface of the skyscrapers to look like they were shining even more.

In that state Sara had been left, at the bottom of the staircases of the station, with hurried passengers avoiding her out of annoyance, all the while she kept a hand open in front of her, trying to catch all the small beautiful petals of ice crystals that she could.

"Hey." said Runí approaching her from behind, getting no response. "Hey, are you ok? What are you doing?"

"Eh? Ah, sorry." she answered, finally coming out of her self-absorption. "It's just that this is the first time I see…"

"The city. I know." Runí smiled, this time without trying to cover it. "I felt the same the first time I arrived here. Impressive, right?"

"Maybe. But I wasn't talking about that." she said, looking at the snowball she had amassed in her hands. "It's just… That this is the first time I see snow in my life."

Runí felt thoroughly confused by her statement. When she finally got out of the claustrophobic, badly built space habitats that were the home and refuge of her people for centuries, she felt completely enamored of the majesty of the human metropolises. To think that a species not unlike hers could totally alter the surface of a world like that repeatedly, was something that assured her completely that she had taken the right decision. And this strange woman with her, only seemed to have eyes for the… snow. Common, and even dirty, snow.

It baffled her. But when Runí looked at her eyes more closely, still fixated on the piece of that small white wonder between her hands, she recognized something familiar. A particular glow that, for some reason, made her think of herself on her first days here even more.

Suddenly, when Sara's look shifted towards her, the Khell'Zen felt embarrassed. Not sure why. But that shame went back to annoyance, as soon as that snowball in Sara's hands hitted her on the face.

"C'mon. Let's go shopping some more for winter clothes, and then we can begin our investigation, detective."

A strange woman indeed, thought Runí, while removing the snow from her face.

* * *

The direction Kamala had given her wasn't difficult to find. It was located on the downtown districts, of course. Where all the high status citizens lived, and the financial heart of the Rodina System operated. In that regard, Sara thought, it wasn't that different from Karma. Or even from Galicia. The rich people still looked over the shoulder to those under the shadow of their giant shining silver towers.

And at the feet of the pair of twin towers they were looking for, in the plaza between them, there was a giant 15 meters tall steel statue of Natasha Fox. The High Marshall who had guided the GTU during its first uncertain decades into space. And native born of the terran commissariat from which most inhabitants of Volga trace their ascendancy.

"Which building is it?" asked Runí, as Sara read the inscription in russian under the statue. "Which plant?"

"Relax, honey. We aren't going to enter in the apartment. We wouldn't find anything. Any clue that the neomoskvan police hasn't already found, would had been destroyed during the mess made looking, or already gotten cold."

"What? Then, what are we doing here?"

"You ask a lot of questions." said looking upwards, to the tip of towers so high that they remained covered by clouds.

She then lowered her glance to look at the desk of the security officers of one of the buildings, that could perfectly be seen from outside through the reinforced security glass that protected the entrance.

"What we are trying to do, is make a guess at how the kidnappers managed to get a member of one of the most powerful trade clans on the galaxy, out of one of the most secure buildings on the city, without being spotted."

"I could already guess as much."

"What?"

"The family. You just said that the person your rich contractor looks after is a member of their clan. You didn't told me that before, but I could guess as much. But I wouldn't be so careless as to speak of that so publicly. Someone indebted could hear you."

"Careless?" for a moment, she felt completely insulted, and then, simply offended. "Now hear me out, pointy ears. I have been making jobs like this for almost three years. So don't start… Wait. Indebted to whom?"

"To whoever bribed the guards, I guess." the Khell'Zen answered lifting her shoulders. "It's the easier explanation I can come up with."

Sara remained silent. Looking at the Khell'Zen with a raised eyebrow, and then to the hall of the building, before looking back at her and smiling.

"Hm. Good thinking. But I doubt that's it."

"Why?"

"Work in places like these are usually paid on several hundred thousands of credits annually. Even as a security guard. I'm not saying it could not happen, but why risk such a god job only for a few more credits?"

"Stupidity, maybe? I have seen greed cause many disasters among my people."

"Maybe. We also have a lot of those on the union. But what I'm thinking is, what if what they offered them wasn't money? What if it was the cleaning of a lack of money?"

It took Runí some time to understand the meaning of her words.

"A debt."

"Exactly. But right now, we are speculating more than we should. Normally, in a situation like this, I would talk with some friends on the police to get information about the investigation. Unluckily, I have no friends in here. Aside from you, I mean."

"I'm not your friend!"

"See? That it bothers you so much, only demonstrates your need to hide it. But don't let's talk about your conflicting feelings about me here. I have an idea of how we can get some info."

Sara signaled Runí to follow her, and the Khell'Zen reluctantly agreed. With her head covered now with the typical black volgan karakul hat, and a long fur coat that reached to down her knees, Sara let her light orange hair lose again so it would fall gracefully over her shoulders. And just before entering the busy hall of the second building of the Needles of Heaven twin towers, she opened her fur coat, an undid the buttons of her under coat and shirt just above her chest. Suggestively offering her cleavage to view.

"Oh, She the merciless. Are you serious?" Runí protested on a low voice, trying not to call attention, and already suspecting her intentions.

"Hey. I don't completely like it either. But if an old trick works, it works." she said with a confident smile, that contradicted her first statement. "Could you hold me this for a moment? Thanks."

After passing to Runí her luggage bag, Sara walked with confidence towards the table behind which a bored security guard sat on.

The blue uniformed man in question was of a exceptionally good enough physique, contrary to what was common in his profession. Where in most places this jobs were picked upon by people whose status did not allowed them to train with the police or simply lacked the attitude or discipline for it, this one seemed to have all of the later. He did not move his eyes from the security monitors, when in most cases, people of his profession would be boringly reading articles on the net. Sara thought it would be a bit more difficult to get through him than she initially expected. But still possible.

"Excuse me?"

The white, head shaved, grey eyed man gave her a cold glance. That demonstrated interest in his job, but no emotion towards it.

"Can I help you, miss?"

"Oh, yes. Thanks. You see, this is kind of embarrassing." Sara said, pretending shame and nervousness, but still pressing her chest against the table, in an angle from which the guard could clearly see them, and relying on her clearly acadian accented russian to catch the volgan's interest. "I mean… I do not live or work here, but I have a friend who does. Her name is Zara. Zara Nubille. And there have been days since I last saw her. I mean, no one on her work knows neither, and I have begun to worry about her."

"I see." the guard answered with the same dispassionate outlook, unmoved by her exhibition.

"When I went up to start knocking on her door again, she did not answered. And when I came back down, I saw you sitting here, and thought..."

"She does not live here, miss."

"I'm sorry?"

"There is no Zara Nubille living here. I'm looking at the records right now, and she doesn't live here. Neither as proprietary, or as inquiline." said moving in his chair, revealing his slight belly.

"It must be a mistake. This is the B tower, right?"

"Yet it is, miss. But I can check the database of tower A too, if you want. What is her apartment number?"

"It was… Uhm… Sorry, I'm so nervous. I'm not sure I remember right now."

"That's not a problem. I can call the authorities if you want."

"Oh, no. That's hardly necessary."

"Miss, if something has happened to your friend, I think calling the police should be-Ugh!"

Sara took a moment to realize that the small dart coming out of the guards neck, had been fired by Runí by a small mechanism under her wrist. Sara rapidly looked around and behind her, to make sure no one had noticed, smiling at the people passing by.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sara asked in an angry whisper.

"Relax. Unlike you, I take my job seriously. I moved out of the angle of the security cameras before doing that."

"That was not necessary! I had him. And what were you doing walking around with that thing?"

"Discrete jobs require discrete weapons. And what you had, was a story full of holes. You said you wanted discretion, and I helped you keep it. When he wakes up in an hour, the toxin will have completely disappeared of his body, and he will think he has simply fallen sleep. We will try another time."

"No. No. There is something we can still do here." after making sure no one had noticed yet, the redhead inclined towards the unconscious man, and started acting like she was talking to him. "Hello? Hello? Are you ok, sir? … Sir? … Help! Somebody help!"

Now Runí was the one completely dumbfounded, looking at the sides trying to keep quiet, as now everyone at the hall was looking at them.

"Help! I was talking to him, and he just fainted!" she moved behind the table, moving him and his chair from behind it. "Is there a medic here?!"

Luckily for her, there was one just passing by. And as another security guard arrived, they both moved the other out of the chair, and extended him on the floor. Just after said guard had urged her and Runí to stay back, Sara started slowly creeping back towards the table, and kneeling behind it as everyone attention was in another part. Runí followed her with even more discretion, but still angry and unsure.

"What in the Void are you doing?" she asked with an angry whisper.

"Curious. A Déjà Vu." Sara answered with a confident smile, accessing to the monitor terminal with the card she had picked from the unconscious guard. "Relax. Unlike you, I take my job seriously."

Runí was regretting not having used the dart on her, while looking with precaution over the table to make sure no one had spotted them yet. Just as she looked back at Sara, she found her fingers holding something small and long between them, practically shoving it into her face.

"Your dart, by the way. I took it when I stole the card. How did you had planned to recover it, by the way?"

"That was not necessary! I had it." said taking it from her, only to realize that once again, she had repeated the redhead's words of before, to Sara's enjoyment. "Tsk! It doesn't matter now. What are you looking for?"

"I already have it. The names of the employes of the building that were working the night our objective disappeared. And their professional files." she said removing her memory card from the terminal.

"Good. Now let's move before...What?! How?"

"Easy." the redhead looked back at her with a smile, and a eye blink. "They were under Recent Access. Probably from when the police came to check on them. One would expect better software security. But volgans are so arrogant. I also damaged the footage of the last day and desynchronized the cameras, so no one will know we were here, and will attribute everything to a simple equipment malfunction. Tell me. I'm acting like a professional now?"

Runí looked at her with even more barely held anger than before. Because now she was feeling a mix of anger and respect she didn't wanted to recognize.

"You are adorable with that pouty face." Sara said pinching Runí's cheek, only for this one to move her hand to a side, and offering Sara her bag back.

"For now on, don't ever expect me to carry your things for you."

* * *

It took them no time to find a discrete motel room in the Middle City. A place with the minimal commodities and services needed, and where the owners didn't asked many questions. Runí would had prefered not to share a double bedroom with that annoying woman, but it was easier to keep an eye on her this way. Damn Her, and her own sense of duty.

Either way, as night was coming near and that long day of moving everywhere was coming to a close, they decided to simply make themselves comfortable. Using her own false identity and status, Runí finally took the long 10 minutes shower she needed. As she went out of the bathroom in a comfortable bathrobe, she found Sara lying on her bed while looking and managing some holographic screens. And just as she did, the Khell'Zen found hard to move her eyes from the human.

The redhead was now wearing a pair of black leggings, and a green sports t-shirt of the same material. And as tight as these clothes usually were, Runí could appreciate the form of her body much better. Her bottom seemed round and solid as two ripe peaches. Her legs tonified, and stretching longer than she thought. Her chest was more generous than her previous clothing had let to appreciate. But most importantly, now under the dim light and concentrated on something else, without that arrogant and annoying demeanor showing through her face… she was simply beautiful.

Her light orange hair flickered like flames while reflecting the dim light of the screens. Her blue eyes seemed as if they were the source of their own light, as clear as they were. And with her pink lips seeming so juicy and fresh as she unconsciously bitted them, the Khell'Zen felt the need of simply sitting next to her and kissing them.

"Did you end with the bathroom?"

"... Uh?"

"The bathroom. You did all you had to do, or are you going back in?"

"Ah, no. I'm already done."

"Good. Because I also needed a shower. But don't worry. It will be a SERIOUS shower."

Aaaaand back to being annoying again. Good. For a moment, Runí had worried she had suffered a heat stroke.

"But first, check this out."

The Khell'Zen sat next to her on the bed as the redhead looked through the screens, revealing they were the dossiers of the security employs they had stolen.

"Did you find anything useful?"

"Not really. Only the start of a lead."

"... That's useful."

"... That's sarcasm."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You know what? Go get me a coffee, and then I will try to explain this to you."

"Don't treat me as if I were stupid! I was a Marbhtach of the temple of She of the Void. I know how to track people and investigate. It was literally my job."

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I will tell you. Look. Do you see this?"

"Yeah. The past jobs of one of the guards. Although… one of the appendix lines is blurred."

"Exactly. It's the same in all the work historials of all of the security personnel. I supposed someone could had erased lines from the documents to cover their tracks, and when I tried to recover the past versions, I discovered that aside from that, they were also damaged."

"So a dead end, then?"

"Nope. I assumed that if something was erased from all the documents, that something must had been the same thing for everyone. So, I thought that by recovering the few undamaged pieces and putting them together in the same puzzle, we could get something. And it's almost done."

"But there must been dozen of uncomplete binary data. How can you expect to make sense out of that?"

Sara looked at the Khell'Zen as if she was crazy.

"I'm not looking at the binary numbers or the code. That's silly. I'm looking at the lines." she pointed at one of the screens again. "You know, grabbing the bits of letters that are not blurred, and mixing them together with the not blurred parts of the others."

"... Ok. I admit. I do not know how cyber pirates work, but I'm sure that's not it."

"Of course not! If I had known I would need it, I would have grabbed one of the deciphering programs I have on my storage unit at home. Would had been much more faster and easier."

"I wasn't expecting to say this, but good job. You are surprisingly good at this."

Sara stopped what she was doing. Did Runí just complimented her?

"I mean, for all the carelessness and total lack of common sense you demonstrate, is nice to know you at least have some talents."

No. She didn't.

"Thanks… I guess. But do not be surprised. I dedicated myself to engineering before this life. Half of it is mounting and dismounting a FTL mini driver with my eyes closed, and the other is getting through the surprisingly weak online software security of the Beneficial Compact military, with only Green Code as a tool."

"Huh, really? I wonder why you got kicked out of your job." said the Khell'Zen rolling her eyes.

"I wasn't kicked out. I left freely."

"Of course you did."

Sara finally lost that seemingly eternal smile of hers, and got pissed off.

"You know, I'm tired of you. For all you like to bad mouth me, at least I have done something. You supposedly are here to help me, but I have only got annoyed comments, that have got boring pretty quickly. So unless you have any ideas about what…"

"Volk Serbij."

"... What?"

"Volk Serbij. The name of the place you are looking for." said the Khell'Zen pointing at one of the screens.

And indeed, the complete name of the previous job the security staff had before the kidnapping, was pointed in there. In the Volk Serbij… as security staff.

"Oh. Good, then. Now we only need to find out what and where…"

"It's a nightclub in the Sakaryan Borough of the city. Lot of high status kids and rich people go have fun there, but in reality, it's only one of multiple covers for the city mafia illegal dealings." the Khell'Zen continued. "The manager of this one in particular, dedicates himself to drug and wepons dealing. And the occasional blackmail and racketeering, to keep the rest of businesses of the neighbourhood in check and paying to his boss, or to gain money from private contractors lending them a crew for a job. Kidnapping included, if the catch is important enough. He even once took hostage the daughter of the former mayor of the city. Probably your man."

"... You said you had been in Rodina only for a few months, and that you rarely get to walk on planet. How the hell do you know so much?"

"Because I take my job seriously. And when something is asked from me, I always do my part. But that's something I only can do when I'm given something to work with. Something you refused to do, until now. So, tell me. Do you need anymore of my ideas?"

Sara kept looking at her as if she was angry for a few moments. But then, smiled to herself, and looked to the front.

"Filla da cona da túa nai."

"What?"

The only answer the Khell'Zen got was a kiss on the cheek.

"It's late. Let's go to sleep for now. But tomorrow, I need you to explain me everything you know about this guy, and the kind of people he works for and with."


	5. Looking for the Job

The Sakaryan sector of Novaya Moskva was the center of most of the administrative, cultural and financial ties with the Sakarya Commissariat in Volga. And also made live a substantial number of immigrants and descendants from worlds of said commissariat.

It also was a substantial center of the night live of the city. The Laila Corridor was a vast strip with various nightclubs at its corners. But the most successful one in the last years without a doubt, was the Volk Serbij. And just as Sara approached the place, she thought of what Runí had explained to her that morning.

Basically, that all the criminal networks of the city were under the absolute control of one guy. No one was completely sure of his identity. People only knew that he tended to hide his more illegal businesses behind legitimate establishments of high regard like social clubs and diamond stores. The sub bosses on which he delegated the management of those businesses appear legally as the legitimate owners of them, so it was difficult to trace them back to him, and there wasn't much interest in doing so from the authorities. By keeping the underworld united and well controlled under his iron fist, he also kept the streets safer from possible gang wars and too risky criminal enterprises. Indeed, he was well protected both legally, and physically.

In fact, the only reason all those details were even known about, was because a couple of his sub bosses got more chatty than they should had when their position got to their heads. Needless to say, they no longer keep neither.

But still, that was the best string from which to pull off. Maybe his underling managing the Volk Serbij kidnapped Nisha working for a third party. But if the big boss was as Runi had explained to her, she doubted he would let organize a job against someone of so high standard without his personal approval.

She entered the place as the local was in the mid of reorganizing. The redhead descended from the ample stairs while checking out the layout. It wasn't much different from her own club… exceptuating the lack of taste. Seriously, who had he ordered to decorate this place? That combination of colours and that overload of decorations hurted her eyes. She didn't wanted to imagine how it would even look once night had fallen and the lights were on.

In the center of the dance floor, Sara saw a guy she assumed was the manager. Or at least, it seemed one, as he barked angry orders at the people around. Tsk. That definitely wasn't the proper manner of managing a business. Specially because they were only a couple of hours away from nightfall, and the cleaning normally should already be done before midday.

"Ehem." she rasped her voice, trying to call his attention from behind his back, to no avail. "Excuse me, sir?"

"Sorry, we are not open. Come back in a couple of hours, and you can have something to drink."

"I'm not here to drink. I'm looking for a job."

"We have no jobs here. We are covered on waitresses and other staff."

"No. I'm looking for a spot on the other half of the business."

The manager finally looked away from his pad, and turned around to take a glance at Sara. The man in question had a very obvious receding hairline, which had gone from what previously was a bright blond, to a sick yellow. The same sick yellow of his eyes, and of that thin mustache he had perfiled and tinted black. Sara had seen people like him before. It's obvious he was consuming his own merchandise.

The man also took a good look at her. Right now, she was dressing in her usual style she was more comfortable with. Except that she wasn't wearing her raiders jacket. Only a winter one she had bought the other day. And normally, she didn't care how men and women looked at her. She even enjoyed it. But something about those eyes made her feel unclean.

"... Sorry, pretty bird. It just that normally, dolls like you come here offering… different qualities." said adjusting his ugly mustard suit, while trying to look charming.

And failing miserably.

"Oh, I understand." she gave the most convincing fake smile she had. "I guess people interested in participating in that area of the business do not simply enter through the front door."

He quickly disbanded the employees still around with a couple of shouts, and turned his attention completely to her.

"Just to be clear, miss… Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"I didn't share it. Elena. Elena Cassmeyer."

"A pleasure, babe. I'm Kazik Sokolov. Proud and diligent manager of this local. So, just to be clear, miss. What kind of business do you exactly refer to?"

"Well, what do you think? I… Oh, I get it. You have to make sure I'm not a cop or anything."

The ugly wasted man looked around, making sure none of the workers were paying attention to them.

"And it seems you are not of around here. That acadian accent gives it away."

"True. Let's just say that from where I'm from… I'm no longer welcomed."

"From where you come, does not matter. I…" he looked around them again. "Let's talk on my office, shall we?"

She doubted the guy was going to waste time with every loser of the street asking for a job, legal or illegal, if they had no previous credentials. But that's where she put trust on her own beauty. No one said no to a pretty face without hearing them first.

* * *

Runí had not much to do in her free time on that city. She barely knew the place more than what she needed in order to do her work properly, and the pleasures of the streets rarely were of any interest to her disciplined mind.

Instead, she decided to spent the time she had in training, until Sara was back. She put on a black sports full outfit, got her hair on a tail, and extended a gym mat on the floor while performing some strength and equilibrium exercises with her excellent fit body.

When Sara finally arrived, she was holding all her weight on one hand, keeping her body vertical to the ground, while moving all of her weight up and down with only one arm.

"Well?" Runí said, with some strain of the effort visible in the tone of her words. "Did you get something?"

Sara wasn't paying much attention to her words right now. Instead, she took the time to appreciate the care the martial artist on Runí had given to keep her well fit body, and still, soft enough to be flexible. The muscle under her skin was obvious, but not exaggerated enough to be off putting. Just as Sara liked it.

"Are you going to answer me?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. It went well." was her only answer, as she made herself comfortable getting rid of her jacket and boots.

"... That's it? You aren't going to give me more details?"

"Well, if you really want to know, I must say that Sokolov is an idiot. He is competent enough to manage two separate business like those, but has no creativity to do it at maximum efficiency. I don't know how he got to where he is now."

"Because that makes him easier to control, I guess." the Khell'Zen interjected, while continuing with her push-ups.

"Maybe. In that case, we can get rid of the hypothesis that he made it in the name of a third party."

Sara then took notice of the open book on the ground, in front of Runí's eyes. Just as the blond was going to pass another page, Sara grabbed it and took a look herself.

"Do you mind? I was reading that."

"Well, well, well. Would you look at that? Pushkin. I did not had you for a fan of poetry. In the end is going to result you do have a soul." Sara then took notice of something else. "Is that classical music? It is so low I hadn't noticed before."

"I like it quiet." said Runí finally moving to her feet, and taking the book from Sara. "And it's not like if it's any of your business. So don't try to derail the conversation. I want more details. What did you got from the place?"

"Barely anything." the redhead answered while taking a good look at her ass, appreciating again her good form. "The guy isn't dumb enough as to not protect his secrets, and he wasn't going to trust a newbie with his or his boss secrets. As much as he wanted to sleep with her."

"... Did you slept with-?"

"NO! Of course not! For whom do you take me?"

"Honestly, you don't want me to answer that question." she said laughing to herself.

"Oh, that was a joke? You can laugh? O, meu Deus, you do have a soul!"

"Leave me alone, and keep talking." she went back to her previous position, but this time holding herself with the other arm. "Then what? You got nothing?"

"I do got something. A job."

"I do not see how that is going to help us."

"Agh. Think about it." Sara sat on the floor, in front of her roommate. "For now, we have nothing. But I managed to convince him I'm useful, and got his approval without making him suspect of me. I'm in tryouts, but if I prove myself competent, and I will, I will scale quickly on his group, and then, on his boss organization."

"So, you want to be a spy now?"

"More or less. I would prefer the guns blazing route. But I don't want to take the risk of tipping off the kidnappers. For this, is better to have patience and take time."

Runí stopped doing push-ups for a moment, and kept her gaze fixed on Sara.

"... What?"

"Nothing." she went back to her exercises. "It's just nice to see you can plan ahead when you want to."

"See? That was why we need each other. You to help me keep my mind on the game, and I to help you learn to relax a little."

"I know how to relax." Runí said in an offended tone, while moving to her feet on a short jump. "Is only that I do it around people I can trust."

"... Is this all about the "me killing your friends" thing?"

"I do not hold any grudges against you for that." the Khell'Zen turned her back to Sara as she moved to the window. "Death and violence are ingrained on our society. We kill and fight each other all the time to survive. We do not hold grudges for that, unless there is something else to be gained from it. Besides, you were trying to survive. You did what you needed to do."

"So, I should take the fact that I'm still breathing, even if apparently I bother you a lot, as a sign that you actually like me?"

The Khell'Zen turned back, with a neutral expression.

"I dislike you today a little less than yesterday, if that's what you mean."

"Great!" Sara went back to her feet. "I knew I would grow out on you. I always do. People can't help but find me oddly charming."

"Those people must have the patience of a Naomh, then."

"Speaking of which, we have to celebrate. What are we doing tonight?"

"What do you mean? Celebrate what?"

"Our new found friendship, of course." said moving next to her and putting an arm around her shoulders. "Or the fact that I enjoy annoying you. Whichever you prefer."

"No, thanks." said moving her arm aside. "I'm perfectly comfortable staying here. And don't you have a job to do, by the way? You know. The whole reason we are even here?"

"C'mon. Right now, there is nothing I can do to work on that. I need to relax. And I can't go out at night alone. I need company. I would look weird and bored otherwise. Besides, I don't know the place. I still need my guide for that."

"Then in that case, I would be of no use to you tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"I know the city around my clan contacts, and that's it. I have never been down here for anything that wasn't a job. We expend most of out time in the station, for security and privacy. And it's not like there is anything of interest to us on those clubs. We can get drunk up there too."

"... Estasme a foder?"

"What?"

"You are in Rodina. Freaking. Rodina. The jewel of the Outer Rim. The shining peak of human civilization… probably only behind Vaikuntha. And you are telling me that you prefer to spend your time in a metal cage on space? I… I'm totally disappointed with you. I really thought the Khell'Zen at least knew how to pass a good time. But this…"

"Peak of human civilization?" she raised an eyebrow, and signaled through the window to the skyscrapers on the distance. "That's the peak of your civilization. What I admire about you. Where the powerful and the ambitious live. On where the your species is slowly changing the fate of the galaxy to fit your every whim, while other nations let internal conflicts and indecisiveness rule them. That, is the peak of your civilization. Those are the places I like to go. Amongst those with talent and the will to uphold it. Where you want to go? Where you want to take me?"

She moved forwards, looking at an offended Sara directly at the eyes.

"That's only the trash I have already seen too much of on my own home."

In that moment, when Runí gave her back to Sara again, the redhead grabbed her arm. And almost as an unconscious action, the Khell'Zen grabbed that arm back and flipped the redhead over her shoulder. Making the human land on her back, but fortunately, over the gym mat.

"Auh! Pero que collóns…?"

"You shouldn't had done that. You never must approach me from behind. You are lucky I didn't killed you." then, she smiled. "I wouldn't want to lose all that money you owe us."

"Ha, ha. Glad I could help you find your sense of humour." she sat on the mat, rubbing her back. "Ok. It's clear I'm not convincing you to go out. At least, not tonight. But, could you do me another favour?"

"... I'm listening. But that isn't a promise of anything." said while moving to the bathroom door.

"Teach me some of your tricks." and before the Khell'Zen could launch another sarcastic reply. "I would pay you extra."

Runí stopped herself just at the bathroom door.

* * *

Inside his office at the club, Sokolov observed his club from a window, up in his office, quite satisfied with himself. The number of weekly clients on the club had stagnated, but their weapons and drug sales were still slowly upping. So, his cut of the gains was also going up. But that wasn't enough to let aside the fact that at the end of the day, all of that still was owed to someone else.

With an annoyed sigh, he sat on his desk, and prepared for the daily call of Molot. From time to time, the lord of the Novaya Moskva underworld put himself in contact through an encrypted channel with every single one of his sub bosses on a short holocall, to make sure everything was under control, and the business was running smoothly.

Not everyone was happy with this situation, of course. Much less Sokolov. Rodina had been built on ambition, and those with it didn't liked to be in a position they could no longer advance more. But they tolerate it. They tolerate it, because the alternative was worse.

Yet Sokolov was one of the foolish or brave enough to dream with that. To take their time looking for weaknesses. Soon he would have a chance. But for now, he would play the nice guardian dog with Molot.

After a subtle buzz, the holo image of a man projected itself over his desk.

"Goodnight, Kazik."

"Boss."

"We haven't talked since the Mhasalkar incident. I guess your crew has covered well its tracks, and no one has come around making strange questions?"

"Not even once, boss. Even the cops seem lost about it."

"The authorities were never a problem, Kazik. I made sure of that. What it worries me, are the private agents Kamala Mhasalkar could call upon. She is a woman of many resources and an iron will. She never lets a slight against her go unpunished."

"Well, if you ask me, I think she has grown to soft in her old age. If I what heard about her is right, we should have had heard something already."

"Or simply, she has grown more sly. Your overconfidence will not a make a toll in my plans. So I will not ask you again. You better make sure there is no one following me through you."

"No more than the usual, boss. Hooked cretins and choosing beggars. Like always. Easy to dispose and mislead. You worry too much."

"... That I worry too much?"

Sokolov immediately knew he had gone too far, as a chill went through his spine.

"I-"

"Let me be clear, Kazik. I tolerate your attitude because you are a decent manager. And good help is scarce these days. But don't ever forget thanks to whom you are where you are, and thanks to whose precautions you have kept your little piece of luxury and authority for so long. So, for your own good, I will expect you are right. But if even a slight threat to my operations comes from a trail you haven't properly covered, I will shut you down immediately. And permanently. Have I been clear?"

The nervous manager swallowed hard, before simply nodding as an answer.

"Good. I have more important matters to attend right now. I will call back when you are done with that. Until next time, Kazik."

Sokolov quickly recovered his weak bravery and self-confidence as soon as the hologram went off.

Arrogant prick. He thinks he can boss him around like a simple goon. But he would learn soon. If he was so nervous about the Mhasalkar girl, that meant he was exposed on another front. A weak spot from where to strike? Maybe. It would not take long to find. He would put someone to it as soon as he could. But right now, he could only fantasize about his future.

Those idiots that had dare underestimate him and make fun of him, licking his boots. All those silveries in their high towers, begging for his favour. And some petty earthly pleasures also, for sure. His own wine cellar. And a beautiful girl sitting in his lap. Like that Elena he had met that evening. One of the most beautiful girls he has ever seen.

In fact, he could probably have had her right then if he wanted. He noticed how thoroughly she looked around his office when they were discussing her contract. She definitely was impressed by his wealth and position. Yep. It seemed like life was finally looking up to him.


	6. Plotting Partners

The night club had gone through a bit of remodeling in the last week and a half. Sara had taken the mission of making this place more aesthetically pleasing as a personal one. And had worked quite nicely. Convincing Sokolov to make changes to his way of dealing with the service to improve their work capacity was going to take more time. But neither of those really mattered.

What mattered, is what she had achieved working through the more illegitimate side of the business. She never had liked dealing with drugs, and with weapons, mostly as a buyer. But she knew enough about both markets and about her own practice with illegal merchandise to properly manage them. Her first day there, as she accompanied Sokolov in a sell to representatives of an illegal mining anchorage on the southernmost continent of the planet that had a need of better fire power, to deal with the body armour of the SAIS in case a team showed up on their turf, she proved her usefulness to him. Meddling at her first chance, and finally getting paid more than they initially expected to with a little bit of pressure. And Sokolov, in the other hand, had proved to her how desperate he was to let someone else do the hard part of his job for him.

She knew a lot of people like him. Persons that wanted all of the power, but none of the responsibilities. Adding also the obvious sexual attraction he felt for her, both factors would make him very easy to deceive and control. With a little more of work and trust gaining, he would freely give her the access to all his information. Information she needed to find Nisha. And the idiots that thought that ordering her kidnapping was a good idea.

But that would come at night. Right now, she wanted to improve her combat skills. She was a fast learner, and enjoyed a good brawl. So with a patient and flexible teacher, this would even be relaxing to her. The problem was… her teacher was Runí.

For the third time in that day, her back hitted the wall after being thrown against it, before falling to the mat. This time, it took her less time to recover her breath. Maybe her lungs were getting accustomed to getting the ribs constantly smashed against them.

"C'mon. I have seen polenians with a better sense of balance than that."

Believe it or not, Runí's mood had improved. Since Sokolov started paying Sara for her work, and those having a new source of income, she rented a more spacious apartment in the middle city for the commodity of both, and had started paying Runí and her Khen'Zell comrades for her services and their help. Making her more willing to listen to her ideas. But that had not helped to soften her stiff attitude much. It seemed Sara would need to work on that a little more.

"Alright, alright, I get it. But Xesús, there really isn't a better way to tell me than making bruises in my bruises?"

"No. Pain is the best teacher."

She really was starting to regret her decision.

This time, Runí got close to offer her a hand to get up. Not without her doubts, Sara accepted, and got to her feet with a grunt, and holding her side with some pain.

"Now, get back to your position."

"Can't we get a little bit of rest first? We have been all morning with this."

"And do what exactly? Do you have any more clues?"

"No. I was simply thinking we could go eat outside."

"Why? We still have food in the kitchen."

"... I will pretend I didn't hear that. You really can't be this obtuse."

"If you have any problems with my methods…"

"No, I don't have problems with your methods. You go always straight to what your goal without distractions. It's just…"

She let out a sigh. Then went to a side of the small gym room of their temporary house. It was a big open space with little to no walls between the rooms except the bedrooms and bathrooms, with the exterior walls being all reinforced windows going from floor to ceiling. She leaned on the table next to the short set of stairs connecting to the kitchen, and kept looking to it while she meditated her next words.

"Tell you what. Let's try this again." she said with a smile. "But this time, if I'm the one that makes you bit the dust, you will come eating with me. Deal?"

"... Are you serious?" Runí did not bother hiding her smile of incredulity. "You can barely touch me as of right now. What makes you think…?"

"Deal, or no deal?"

"Sigh. Fine. But if you don't, you will stop complaining about my training method, and top asking me about going with you."

"Ok, ok. Now get on with it." Sara said putting herself in position with her fists raised, and a confident smile.

"Glad I at least got you excited about this. Now, what did I-Hey, what Void?!"

Just as soon as Runí had gotten in her place, Sara opened her fist, and blow out some kind of dust into her face. Just as she got to open her itching eyes, she felt Sara's foot on her stomach, sending her to the mat.

"*Cough, cough.* She of the… Did you just blow out spice in my face?"

"Hey, I told you I would make you bite the dust."

"That's cheating!"

"That's winning."

After a moment, Runí's anger dissipated, and denied with her head as she laughed to herself.

"Shame you are a human. You would had made an exemplary Khell'Zen."

"Oh, that's the sweetest thing you have ever said to me. But I already was a raider once. Fun, but not quite for me. So. Are we going, or not?"

Runí got into her feet as she cleaned her eyes.

"I did give you my word, didn't I?"

* * *

"... Grown beef? Again? Really?"

"Hey. I wanted to taste it, and I did. Now I want to taste its better version, and they told me this one was the best of the planet."

"This is Novaya Moskva. I'm sure every restaurant claims that."

"Well, then I guess we can denounce them for false advertising and make a quick gain from it… or we can do this every week and try a different place each time."

"... I'm not longer sure when you are joking or not."

"Curious. I was expecting the opposite, by this point."

"And what do you mean by every week? How much time had you intended to dedicate to this job of yours?"

"All the time it takes to get to know what I need."

"I could do this faster if you let me take the information by force, you know?"

"We already talked about this. I don't want to set off any unnecessary alarms. Besides, you will have your moment, I assure… you. Great. Right on time."

Runí lifted an eyebrow with curiosity. Just as Sara salutated someone behind her, the Khell'Zen turned around, and looked towards the door.

"Do you see that handsome sakarian guy with the beard and long hair coming towards us? That's…"

"Nikora Samara. Yes. I know his face. Works for Sokolov."

"Does he know yours?"

"No. Why?"

"Because today, you may have the chance of doing some work for a change. If you are as good at hiding as you are at kicking but. But for now, let's have fun." Sara finalized as Samara reached them. "Hey, Nikora. Fancy meeting you here."

"Hi, Elena. Fancy indeed. Wasn't expecting to meet you so far away of…" he took a look at the Khell'Zen, that made sure her plastic prosthetics over the ears were still there by fixing her hair. "Who is your friend?"

"Oh, this is Katja. We live on the same building. And curiously, she is also pretty new to the city. Katja, this is Nikora. He works with me at the club."

Runí simply lifted a hand to salute, without bothering to talk. The man called Nikora Samara was of strong and tall complexion, with a toasted or caramel tone of skin, but green clear eyes. He had the appearance of someone rough and savage. He weared worned out jeans that seemed this way more out of use than fashion, the same way as his brown leather jacket, and his mane, even if clean, looked twisted and mismatched on some places. To Runí, this definetly bringed her memories from home. But taking into account he was Sakaryan, and how relatively recent and still savage the human colonies in that sector still were, she wasn't really surprised.

"Hey, Kat. Does it bother you if I call you Kat?"

"Call me however you want, as long as is not an insult." she dismissed him.

"A woman of few words, your friend seems to be." Nikora pointed, trying to remain sympathetic.

"Yeah. That's really the problem with her. She only gets to work on the office she got moved to from Yggdrasil, and I'm having a hard time trying to convince her to get out. That she agreed to come out to eat with me it's a miracle, and I'm not wasting it. Do you know of any place where two new city girls can have fun?"

"Well, now that you ask…"

* * *

That kind of place was dark even in daylight. This club was not a place for someone looking for fun, but for discretion. And the Khell'Zen understood why.

The fact that they had encountered Nikora on the restaurant wasn't any act of casualty. Either Sara knew he was a regular there, or they had the meeting arranged. Likewise, Runí could only theorize that they needed to talk in a place where their supossed boss could not hear them. Sometimes, her temporal employer acted like if her head was empty. But others, she was proving to be more crafty than expected. Runí had trouble understanding that woman.

Even then, Runí had no idea what Sara was trying to get from him. They had gone to a private table to talk, and the redhead had petitioned her to remain at the other side of the curtain to keep an eye outside. With the general noise of the local and the low music, it wasn't possible to hear what they were talking about inside, but she didn't really cared.

"Is your friend who you told me she was?" Nikora asked, extending his arms over the back of his seat, seemingly relaxed.

"No. But does it really matter? It's not like you are who you claim to be. At least, not entirely."

"... Are you trying to suggest something?"

"Suggest? No. Not suggesting, really. Is more of a claim. The claim that I know who is really your direct boss, and why an ambitious idiot like Sokolov still keeps his job, even when is obvious his, and your boss, does not trust him."

"... I don't know what you are talking about?"

"Oh, I get it. You are being cautious. You have to bait me, to make sure you don't accidentally reveal anything to me that I might have not known beforehand."

"Assuming I have any idea of what you are talking about, what is exactly that you know, and how do you know it?"

"Easy. I just had to listen. Listen to the unusual amount of questions you made constantly. At first, I thought it was merely ambition. But you were to subservient to Sokolov. You demonstrated towards him more respect than any idiot like Sokolov deserves."

"Did you thought that maybe that was my plan? Being an ambitious lap dog?"

"Maybe. But you also demonstrated too much intelligence and initiative for that. That couple of works where Sokolov put us together show it clearly. You put words in his mouth beside clients, to push sales forward, and most lap dogs are too afraid to take the risk."

"I could say the same of you."

"You could. But that's for later. Right now, what matters is that it only took me a little of looking for you when you thought I wasn't paying attention, to notice all those mysterious calls you made after every job."

"So… You are saying you were spying on me."

"You say that as if you weren't constantly looking at my ass whenever I looked another way. I find that waaay more offensive."

"Heh. Pretty tale of yours." he grabbed his jar of black beer, with a confident smile. "But you haven't said anything that…"

"Who is Akula Molot?"

He stopped before taking a sip, and his smile disappeared.

"... Where did you heard that name?"

"I already told you. You should lower your voice when you speak through the smart. Can I guess then that its that the nickname of your employer? Or simply your contact? Nah. You talk to him with too much respect to be the second."

"What do you want?"

"Coming back to the point of before." she emptied half his beer on a single continuous sip. "Ah! I guess your boss keeps you watching one of his lieutenants because he doesn't trust him entirely. And even then, I guess that if he keeps his position is because you didn't got anything substantial on him."

"Your point?"

"My point is that he is so desperate to get me on his bed, that he has started to trust me with details no one reasonable should. So, by any guess, imagine that I got of any of those details that would make him get caught by your boss with his trousers down…"

"And how do I know that you aren't already sleeping with him, and he has sent you to test my loyalty?"

"... Really?" she lifted an eyebrow. "Have you taken a look at me… and at him? Besides, you have seen how he treats me, and you have much more experience with how much of an idiot he is. If I wanted to put you out of the middle, do you think I would really need to go all through this?"

"I still fail to see what you would have to gain from a deal like this. Hypothetically speaking, of course, because I haven't admitted anything yet. What is your take?"

"My take is, that I want a better position in this city. A position where I'm not working under a drooling idiot that it's constantly trying to grab my ass. You could take all the merit about the leaked information for all I care. I give myself for satisfied if your boss and you can guarantee me that once Sokolov is done… all of his possessions will go to me."

"His possessions being…?"

"The Volk Serbij, all the territory under its influence on the Laila Corridor, and the control of the businesses there."

Nikora laughed with amusement, moving his head back.

"Should I take that as a no, or a yes, then?"

The sakaryan looked back at her.


	7. Night of achievements

Sokolov looked over the dance floor from his office with pride and accomplishment. Today was the day everything would start to fall in line for him.

Just before he could get lost in his thoughts again, someone knocked in his door. And after giving permission to enter to whoever it was, the beautiful Elena came through. Perfect. Just who he wanted to talk with.

"Hey, boss. Sorry to bother, but I need to talk with you."

"You are never a bother, babe. You are always a welcomed sight to my eyes, and I was about to call you here myself. But tell me. How can I help you?"

"You really know how to make a girl feel appreciated." she sat on the corner of his desk. "But I needed to know something about the way you are organizing your sales. Since you gave me access to the files before, I have been looking at the numbers, and there are things I don't… I'm not sure where they are going exactly."

Sokolov evidently tensed himself, as much as he tried to pass as relaxed.

"Ahm… What do you mean, my dear?"

"Well, for starters, your benefits don't seem to add up with the percentage you are supposed to deliver to Mr. Molot." said while opening an holographic screen on a tablet. "At first I thought it might had been a one off mistake, but it has been consistent through months. Too consistent for you not to notice, in fact."

"I see." he slowly started to reach for the weapon hidden under his desk. "And if that would be the case?"

"That would meant that you might try moving against Mr. Molot. And if that it's the case… I want in."

Sokolov flinched, and for now, let his gun on its place.

"Pardon me?"

"I have been only working for you during two weeks. But in that time, your abilities and your demeanor have…" she moved towards him, sitting now on the armrest of his armchair, and grabbed his tie to pull him near. "... impressed me."

"I-Impressed you? Ahem! Of course, my dear. You wouldn't be the first."

"Uh-huh." she adjusted his tie, and then moved back to her feet to lean on the window that oversaw the rest of the club. "And I feel… appalled at all the confidence you have put on me. All the opportunities given."

"W-well, I haven't done anything, my dear." he tried to maintain composure, but still checking out her figure. "It's all your talent that has brought you here."

"Maybe. But it was still you who put me where I am. And I have been thinking about it."

She turned around, and leaned over him, putting her face just centimeters away from his, while resting her hands over his arms.

"How to properly show you how thankful I feel. How to…" she bit her lip. "... compensate you."

"Uh-huh." Sokolov simply nodded, with his heart beating even faster, and his gaze slipping from her face to her cleavage.

She then moved and turned around again.

"So I will help you. I will help you claim the place on this city that you deserve."

"Ehm… nice to hear that." he said getting up, and adjusting his clothes before getting near her. "Any idea where to start?"

"I don't know. I thought you might have a plan." she turned around, with a smile. "All that money you have been taking from that idiot of Molot without him noticing has to be going somewhere. Could you fill me in?"

"Oh, well. I don't know if I should." said grabbing her by the waist, with an smile only he found seductive.

"Why?" she leaned back, with the most genuine expression of hurt in her face she could. "You mean you don't trust me?"

"No, no, babe. Is not because of that." he grabbed her hand between his on a gentle gesture. "It's just that this is all so dangerous. I would hate to see you hurt only because I got you on the middle of all of this. But I guess that with a woman of your guile, that would be unnecessary."

"Oh, Kazik." said with the most convincing touched tone she could. "You are more kind than I deserve."

"That is also very true." he moved back to his chair, and opened up his holographic computer on the table. "Ok. I had keep this on my private server for security, and the room is normally permanently sealed when I'm not here, while the codes remain encrypted. I have made every effort to keep this secret, and I mean to keep it that way as long as possible."

"Meu. Very impressive." she said while looking at how crappy his encryptions were.

"I can show you how to do it later. A private lesson." he said, while thinking of them two alone in his bedroom. "I made myself with a private location on a small island on the Belyj sea. I have the coordinates here. Is an old military outpost, previous even to the terraforming of the planet. And old bunker of when this world was used as a training ground for winter ops. I have been using it to stock up all the material I bought with MY money. He never made anything to deserve his cut."

"Never going to deny that. But what kind of material? Weapons?"

"Best. If Molot keeps himself so high, word is that this is because he has many powerful friends among the Human Unity Front. The powerful on this planet in general don't like xenos. And neither do I. But that isn't going to stop me from fulfilling that need on the market."

"What do you mean?" she said, as one of the holographic screens changed to an image she recognized all too well. "That's a lot of Partogan wine."

"Exactly. Akula Molot doesn't like xenos, so he has ordered me and the rest of his district lackies to never buy or sell any kind of off-world merchandise that has a xeno origin or imprint on it. Not even drugs. Doesn't want to pollute humanity with it, he says."

"I can understand the sentiment. But kind of short sighted in order to make business." she expressed the second half of the phrase with total honesty.

"I know. So, I have been filling the bunker with any kind of alien merchandise I could get my hands on from the Mokshan Shadow Markets, and beyond, that could sell for an astronomical price here. He could never track the bunker back to me even if he found it, and the crew I employ doesn't even know my name, much less my face or voice. I may not be able to out gun him, yet, but certainly I can push his clientele away from him with new and more exotic products. And then, it will be only a matter of time before his old gangs flock to me looking for employment, and a better pay. So. What do you think so far?"

"Impressive. That's all I needed to hear. Just as I expected from the man I love."

"Great. I-wait, what?" he exclaimed with surprise, catching up with what she had just said.

"Oh. Bummer. I let my tongue slip, didn't I? Sigh." she sat on his lap, caressing his cheek with a hand. "But is true. I can't deny it any longer. As I no longer can hold back the urge of needing to feel you inside me."

Sokolov let out a pleasured breath, with his face growing redder.

"So please. Close your eyes, and let your red siren take you to another world."

He did as she asked, only to feel something cold and metallic under his chin.

"The real world, to be precise."

Just as he opened his eyes, he saw the gun she was holding against his neck. The same gun he normally kept hidden under his desk.

"H-hey. C'mon, babe." said confused. "I don't know what kind of bedroom games you like. But is not safe to…"

"Nikora, you can enter now!" she shouted towards the door.

And just as that, the Sakaryan that had been waiting at the hall the whole time crossed the room, with another two armed men following him.

"Do you have everything?" the bearded man of long hair asked.

"Yep. I recorded everything, and all of the private documents he kept on his server are open before us right now. You can send this idiot to his and your boss whenever you want." she went back to her feet, and moved away from Sokolov, but without stopping to point at him with his own gun. "Told you you only needed a pretty face to make him spill the beans."

"What? What is the meaning of this?" she looked between Nikora and Sara, with a heartbroken expression.

"Akula Molot sends his regards, kawe. Thanks for confessing your plans to betray him so openly."

"But… but…" he seemed in the verge of tears. "You… you said you loved me."

"And you told me and the Southern Raptors that the guns we sold then were brand new and unused." she answered while lifting her shoulders. "We both lied to each other and others. I'm just better at it than you."

"This… this is not the last you hear of me!" said struggling with the men holding him, with his anger slightly clouding his natural cowardice for now. "Molot will never get to claim my life, you hear me? Never! I will escape. I will escape and get back at you, you hear me?! Before next week, I will be far away and dancing on your…!"

* * *

That minced red mass was no further recognizable as a former living being. At least, as much as a fruit could be categorized as a living organism.

Runí kept herself busy sharpening the knives on the kitchen, sitting on a high stool next to the open central counter, while she waited for the tomato juice on the blender to be ready.

She was already sleeping when Sara had come back from the club, so they hadn't had a moment to talk last night. In theory, this was the night he and Nikora should had got ridden of Sokolov. But the Khell'Zen guessed that if anything had gone wrong, she would had warned her.

"Hmm… Deus, I needed that." Sara said, as she approached the kitchen from the hall were her room was, wearing only an open red silk gown.

"Good night?" Runí asked without lifting her gaze from the knife and the sharpener on her hands.

"You bet. I haven't had a night this relaxing on weeks. And I finally got rid of that drooling idiot of Sokolov." said as she approached the coffee maker.

"Did you got any useful information aside from that?" the Khell'Zen remained unimpressed.

"Only that Akula Molot apparently has a lot of friends in the Human Unity Front. Which isn't really a surprise in this planet, to be honest. They have been so isolated from contact with xeno species, that every piece of xenophobic propaganda and romantic media has gotten to their heads." she opened one of the top shelves, looking for mugs.

"So, another dead end?"

"Not exactly. Now Samara trusts me, and if what you told me after you followed him home is right, he seems to have a personal connection with Molot. So, if he keeps his part of the deal, he should eventually lead me to him."

"Are you sure he trusts you?" she finally raised her eyes to look at Sara, wondering why she had made two mugs of coffee when she knows she doesn't like it. "I mean, he knows you have a hidden agenda, and that you had no doubts about betraying Sokolov. If I were him, I would be wondering if you could do the same to me."

"Oh, believe me. He trusts me. Intimately. I have kept myself busy all night making sure of that." she then looked back towards the hall of her room, and signaled Runí to keep silent.

Just at that moment, Nikora Samara, wearing only his rugged pants, and leaving exposed his muscled torso covered in several tribal tattoos, came out of that hall yawning and stretching himself. As he approached them, Runí kept looking at him with incredulous eyes.

"Yaaawn...Good morning, Katja." he said passing by while scratching his beard, just before putting his arms around Sara's waist from behind, and kissing her neck. "Good morning, keahi."

"Good morning, semental." she moved him away from her, and turned around with two mugs in her hands. "If you can keep your hands of me for a moment, here is your coffee."

Just as he grabbed the mug and gave it a sip, both him and Sara couldn't help to notice how Runí had just frozen in place, with her eyes fixed on them.

"... What?" Sara asked with a raised eyebrow, and a satisfied smirk.

The Khell'Zen moved her head in deny, and opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, only to sigh in the end.

"You know what? Forget it." and left the knife and sharpener on the counter to get up for her juice.

After a moment of confused looks from their part too, Sara simply turned around to look at Nikora again and continue their conversation.

"Well. So, what about that bunker?"

"Uhm… Oh, right. I just called Akula Molot while you were on the shower. He doesn't want to deal with any of that xeno junk, but that idiot of Sokolov wasted too much of his money on it. So, he is willing to let you manage it and find a buyer of off world to get rid of it… as long as all the money ends up getting to him."

"Pity. I expected to make a cut, but I don't think this would be a good moment to push to get more of him either. He will have you supervising me on that operation too, I guess?"

"Yes. Just like in the club and Sokolov's former territory. But remember. Don't forget you are on probation, and that he is only letting you manage that part of his territory because he didn't had anyone else available at the moment, and I gave him my good word. So don't take it for granted, and remember you owe me."

"He. Don't worry. I'm not forgetting that. In fact…" he started moving her index between the lines of the muscles of his torso. "... didn't you felt rewarded enough last night?"

He raised and eyebrow with a smirk. He put his mug of coffee to a side, before grabbing Sara by the waist and sitting her on the counter, and leaning towards her, keeping their faces centimeters away from each other.

"I'm not so sure. For the way you kept screaming my name against the pillow, I say you got as much as you gave. If not more."

"Then I guess I will have to up my game for next time."

He kissed her violently, while she closed her legs around his waist. But just as he started to pull the gown she was wearing out of her...

"You do realize I'm still here, right?" the Khell'Zen asked, while ordering the knives.

"Yes. Right." Nikora set himself apart while clearing his throat. "I… will go put on something now."

Just as Nikora went back to from where he came, Sara got down of the counter and adjusted and tied her gown. Even without looking at her, she could feel Runí eyes throwing daggers at her.

"What? I already told you. I needed to gain his trust."

"You said that as if you hadn't enjoyed it."

"Don't be ridiculous. Of course I enjoyed it." she let out a sigh, while reminiscing about last night. "He looks like the marble statue of a god. I mean, did you saw that? I could grid cheese on that tablet."

"Yes. I saw that. I only expect it doesn't distract you."

"Relax. It's just sex. I'm not going to..."

But before she continue, she noticed Nikora coming towards them from her room.

"Well. I guess I should be moving now." he moved next to Sara to grab his mug, and ended drinking his coffee. "I will talk with Molot when I can. He will probably want to meet you in person soon if you show to be competent enough."

"Oh. Does that mean you doubt me?"

"Not really." he gave her a quick peck on her lips. "But I avide for giving everyone the same chances. See you tonight."

"See ya."

Just as they saw him leave by the door of the apartment, Runí waited for a few moments to make sure he wasn't waiting at the other side of the door trying to hear them, before speaking again.

"At least I expect that last night you came home from Sokolov's office with something more than a hunk."

"Of course I did. One moment."

She then quickly went back to his room, and came back with an holopad before opening it over the counter, with several profiles showing up.

"Look. I copied some of Sokolov's files. Apparently, our objective, Nisha Mhasalkar, wasn't the only one to be kidnapped lately."

"You just slipped."

"What?"

"You gave me her name. I would worry it could happen more often, if I were you."

"That was no slip. It's just that at this point, I trust you enough to say you that."

As much as Runí tried to hide it, it was obvious Sara's words had taken her by surprise.

"If you think that's going to…"

"Focus on the matter at hand, please. Anyway, I only had time to give them a quick glance last night. Thought you could help me find any pattern."

Runí gave her an hostile look, before turning around towards the screens again.

"Hmf. I don't recognize all of them. But yes their names. Or surnames." she started pointing towards the screens. "This one is the daughter of the CEO and main shareholder of Otomaya Electronics. The main provider of computer systems for all of the Aurora Commissariat. This other… I think is the husband of Patrycja Pavlov."

"Wait. You mean... like in Land Forces General Patrycja Pavlov? That Pavlov?"

"Yes. Oh. And this one is the heir of the Prokopyev fortune. Probably the wealthiest family on the system."

"A lot of rich and powerful people. It would be a great risk to anger them all at the same time. And it doesn't even make sense. Even if one of them disappeared, they would in the news at all hours. How can anyone keep it so quiet? It should not be possible."

"Unless you already had your back covered."

Sara thought about the idea with a concerned look.

"You mean a powerplay."

"Yes. A lot of powerful people enlisting help from a crime boss and his thugs, to keep in check other powerful people. Why are you surprised? I thought in Moksha you saw this everyday."

"Yes, but… But never at this level. Not like this." Sara rubbed her eyes. "Ok. Let's check again our facts. Repeat me again, step by step. What did you saw and heard yesterday's night when you followed Samara home?"


	8. Work Party

Runí had had to follow his car through more than 5 kilometers of streets, and yet, they even hadn't left the central district. That city was truly enormous.

But yet, in so much terrain, even inside the same district there was bound to be more than enough difference between areas. The place were Nikora Samara had stopped, for starters, was among the ruins of the old city.

There was a part of the historic city center that the powers to be had taken a great care of. The first university. The first hospital. The first government office. The walls of the old artic training base. But this wasn't that place. This was the location of the firsts slums. Only kept intact, because the new roads and lines of communications circumvented it, and no one among the rich citizens of the center district wanted to live or deal with an area so isolated.

Well, that, and because even in its decay, the ruins were a pleasurous sight for the people on the skyscrapers and attics surrounding the area. As a reminder of the struggles of the old nations, the descendants of the first wavers used to say. Runí never understood what they meant.

Nikora Samara left his car, and watched both sides to make sure no one had followed him. He wouldn't had noticed the hoverbike half a kilometer behind him even if he had suspected it. Runí was just that cautious.

Just as Sara and her expected, Samara had gone directly to talk with his boss after the redhead had explained to the Sakaryan her plan and petitions. He now seemed headed towards and old storehouse, with its windows talked. Everyone passing by would have thinked it abandoned, but the slight vibrations on the ground and the muffled noise she noticed from outside made her think otherwise.

Just as Samara disappeared behind the main entrance of the wall surrounding the building, Runí jumped over it, but keeping a watchful eye for any outside guards or security cameras. This seemed to not be the case, since for all intent and purposes, whomever was inside wanted to keep the appearances of a decrepit building by any means.

She saw Samara again, knocking on the heavy door of the building. There weren't seem to be any high tech complicated security measures. Only a heavy door with a peephole, that some guard inside had to open. At least, that's how he entered. Runí would have to find another means.

She ran towards the warehouse, and kept herself down while kneeling against a wall. Above her, there were enough loosed bricks and grates over the windows to climb easily. And with the grace of a cat, she soon found herself on the roof.

Aside from a couple of unused chimneys, there was only an skylight in there, from which there was obviously light coming out. Slowly but with confidence, she discreetly leaned over it to take a look at the interior, trying to limit the risk of being spotted.

Inside, various men with automatic weapons watched another men load various boxes into trucks. Runí recognized them easily. Those were weapons cases.

She took no time in locating Samara again, dressing so casually among well uniformed people. One of the men in charge of the transportation signaled him towards the back of the warehouse, motivating Runí to move. She then carefully removed one of the panels of the skylight, and jumped over one of the roof beams under it, moving with her chest pressed against the beam, and her back rasping against the tight ceiling above her.

She followed him until the staircase of an elevated room that in old times, should had been the office of the factory boss. She then jumped from the beam towards the roof of that office with the grace of a cat, while making as little noise as possible, and pressed her ear against the thin metal plate roof to hear what was going inside, as Samara entered. The man she supposed to be Akula Molot that was in the room said nothing, asides from a formal greeting, as Samara explained him what Sara and him had discussed. Only when he had finished, Molot spoke.

"Accept her deal."

"Just as that?" the Sakaryan questioned. "It's not that I'm doubting you, boss. But, you don't want to meet her first, or…?"

"Worst case scenario, she doesn't really have any proof, and things remain as they are. But still, she seems intelligent enough to see through you, so I might have uses for her on other place. Best case scenario, she delivers the promised, and then proves to be a better district leader than Sokolov. In either case, she still remains ambitious. Maybe too much for her own good. So you would still have to watch over her."

"Understood. So I will remain at my post, then. But she still seems to be good at obtaining information. You are not worried she could get anything compromising about your plans?"

"Should that happen, my outside friends will take care of the information leak. Even if the public gets to know, there will be little to no repercussions. And of her person, I would take care of personally."

"I see you very confident, boss."

"Is not confidence. Confidence is for fools. I'm simply stating a fact. She won't get to know more than what we tell her, and you will keep an eye on that from happening. And even if you fail… Well. Let's say you won't have to worry anymore about it."

Samara took a moment to respond.

"Understood sir."

"Good. If she proves herself right, she could be a very valuable asset. And if not, it won't matter in the long term. Before the end of the year by the Terran calendar, we will have fulfilled all of our objectives. Then, this preoccupations will no longer require attention. We will be beyond that causing us a problem."

* * *

Sara had passed the last two weeks meditating about the meaning of the words of Akula Molot that Runí had conveyed to her. But that did not meant she had been idle. She improved Sokolov's poorly managed businesses in the legal and illegal front, and had managed to double the clientele of the club, and quadruple the benefits from the illicit merchandise exchangings.

But her greatest success was taking all the xeno merchandise Sokolov had purchased, and move it to buyers off-world, just as Akula Molot desired. And just as he desired, she didn't touch a credit of the benefits. All of them went to him directly. Or at least, directly through Nikora. There was the chance the Sakaryan could take the money and then try to blame her, but from what she had gathered and from what Runí had told her, he feared and respected his boss too much to do that.

Besides, right now, she had him under her charms. No reason to suspect any double plays coming from him. At least, for now.

It was because all of these reasons, that she felt no fear when her most recent lover came to her with the news.

"He wants to speak with you directly." the Sakaryan told her, as they spoked on her office on the club.

"Already? Hm. I thought I would have to work myself up a couple of months more before coming to that. Taking into account how careful he seems to be, I mean." she said while remaining comfortably stretched on her chair.

"What can I say?" he took seat in front of her table. "Your rapid progress these past two weeks has impressed him."

That's what made her suspect that she had been exposed. But for now, while those remained the only suspicions, better to remain subtle.

"You mean OUR progress." she said with a tender expression. "I couldn't have done any of this without you."

"I appreciate the compliment, and your humility, but that's simply not true. They were all your ideas, your plans, and your management that made this possible. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Akula Molot would like to have you in the position of expanding that capability to a greater area."

He was telling her exactly what she would want to hear. That's what made her keep her suspicions at heart.

"If you say so." she said while playing with an puzzle box in her hands. "But tell me. When and where would this reunion take place?"

"This looks like a trap. You realize that, don't you?" Runí insisted.

"Of course I realize that. But the keyword is 'looks'." Sara replied, while cleaning her guns, sitting on the floor next to her bed. "I'm not wasting a chance of getting closer to him and the knowledge of his plans for Nisha and the rest of abductees, no matter the risk. But I'm not stupid. That's why that night I need you near the area, to watch my back in case something goes wrong."

"If something goes wrong, I may be too late to save your back, or even any other bit of you. No matter the distance, that's a risk."

Sara stopped what she was doing, and looked to the Khell'Zen with a lifted eyebrow.

"Are you… concerned about me?"

"I'm concerned about the good money you owe us, and you are paying us."

But after a moment of Sara not buying her response, Runí left out a tired sigh.

"I wouldn't exactly call you my friend. But after all this time living and working together, I would lie if I said I hadn't certain… appreciation for your person."

"Sniff. That's the nicest thing you have said to me since we know each other." Sara responded, in a dramatically exaggerated manner.

At that, Runí couldn't prevent letting out a small chuckle. Even if she was rolling her eyes.

"Don't get that get to your head. I still can't stand you."

"Yeah. Keep telling yourself that. Before this is over, you will be crying at the idea of us splitting ways."

"In that front you are right. The happiness of the idea of getting rid of you forever could overwhelm me."

They both kept looking at each other with complicit smiles, and in the end, the Khell'Zen sat next to her.

"But now, seriously. What's your plan for this?"

* * *

Located at the heart of the entertainment district, the opera hall of Karenina was not only the biggest and more luxurious in the city or the planet, but probably also on the whole GTU. And for someone that had come to think of Karma as her adoptive home city and was an occasional spectator on its famous Shyamalan Palace, that knowledge stinked.

It was called an opera hall, but the true went beyond that. Beside the elegants songs and writing of the best plays offered by the greatest writers, composers and musicians of the Rodinan and Neopolskan schools of art, the building was also host to various elegants dining halls, extensive ballrooms, an academy of interpretation and dance, and, as Sara discovered that same night, various secret passages. Not exactly that well hidden, but enough to make the trick.

Nikora was the one accompanying her there, but this time, with a fine smoking, a well-groomed beard, and with his wild mane tightly ordain on a ponytail. This reunion should be a very important event in the larger scale of things, if even him was willing to dress properly.

She, personally, never disappointed on that regard. She wore a formal one shoulder blue dress of Acadian style, with two shinny tears of silver dropping of her ears. That night, she also kept her hair on a well tied knot for practicality. She might need the needles ornamenting and keeping it together now to stab someone later, if things got awry.

Those were the only weapons she had thought of bringing with her. Because she knew that in the end, they were going to frisk them both. And Nikora had been nice enough to warn her beforehand of that. But neither she wanted to raise suspicions by seeming too confident, so she also brought a small derringer strapped on her tight. Naturally, they took it from her just as they were searching her legs. But it had accomplished is purpose.

Once they were granted access inside, Sara found herself surprised at the glamour of the place. It's decoration had a clearly Neoimperial style to it, as many powerful people on the GTU liked. For some reason, the top hierarchy of the union was really interested on Imperial Era Terra, and liked to emulate it.

There was also a lot of other people accompanying them. Those nearer the door had turned around their heads to look at them, just as they spoke between themselves in small groups, as well dressed as Sara and Nikora, while picking snacks from tables of exquisite appearance, and picking drinks from the waiters and waitresses buzzing around them.

"These are some of the other sub-bosses and gang leaders working around the city for Akula Molot." Nikora whispered her. "He likes to organize these meetings to speak with them personally from time to time, or when big changes or problems occur. Like this time."

"And I'm a change, or a problem?" Sara said in a jockingly manner.

Nikora laughed at her answer at first, but after a moment, his face turned serious again. Like if he had began asking himself the same question.

From his reaction, it was clear the Sakaryan feared Molot as much as he respected him. She guessed that that was probably the same for most people in the room. Or at least, the most cowardly and cautious ones.

Sara took a better look at the people accompanying them. Next to one of the tables, there was an old woman in an almost military style formal uniform, with her hair completely white due to age, deep wrinkles through all her face with an angry expression, and while one of her eyes was of a deep clear blue, the other was covered by a scar. But her now completely white eye still seemed to move following her steps.

"What's with the one-eyed over there?"

"That's Lady Laska. She supervises Molot's businesses on the high end dealings on northern downtown. Also, a very skeptical and suspicious woman. Some call her paranoid. So don't expect her… Well, most of them, to trust you outright."

That could be useful. Nisha's kidnapping was certainly related to high business matters her grandmother was involved on. So that Laska could definitely know something about it.

"And see the one with the long grey beard?" Nikora pointed to another assistant of the party, talking with Lady Saska. "That's Bohumil Novak. She controls what moves through the eastern black docks of the city. But most infamously, his crews normally handle anyone that Molot wants to see disappear. Or reappear, if he is in a forgiving mood."

Bingo. It seemed she finally had found her price. Maybe he knew where Nisha and the other high end hostages were located.

"But don't worry." Sara felt Nikora's hands around her waist, as he kissed her exposed shoulder from behind. "I wouldn't let someone like him near you."

Ugh. Couldn't he just keep his hands for himself for one moment? Seriously. At first, his eagerness was fun and exciting, but now, he was just getting tiresome.

"Oh. How sweet of you." she turned around, looking him at the eyes with a pretended smile, while stroking his beard with her fingers. "But let's leave that for later, in a place where I can get rid of this dress. Where is the boss in all of this, by the way?"

"He isn't here yet. Said he had some matters to attend this night before coming here. In the meantime, do you want to drink something?"

"Sure. You think they have Green Expodia here?"

"Uf. That's a strong one for a work party."

"I know how to handle my alcohol, and it helps me relax. So don't worry."

Nikora simply raised his shoulders, and went towards the bar almost at the other side of the room. Then, Sara let out a sigh of relief. She thought he was a nice enough guy, but it could get tiring to have him all the time breathing down her neck, and pretending on front of him. Besides, it could be useful to talk with some of this people without someone's else ears listening to her every word.

"Are you new here, miss?"

Her momentary respite had ended. She again put on the most convincing smile she could, and turned around to talk with the stranger addressing her.

Unlike most of the room, he seemed around her age, if not slightly older. He must have been on his early 30's. His skin was almost as pale as hers, his jaw squarely cutted, his eyes of a bright blue glow, and his smooth coiffed hair was as black as ebony. The only imperfection on his handsome face, was a tiny scar over his left cheek.

"Yes. In fact, I am. Is there a problem with that."

"Absolutely not. Because that means I'm no longer the new guy. If anything, I have to thank you, miss…?"

"Cassmeyer. Elena Cassmeyer." she answered with a gentle inclination of her head, as a salute. "And you sir are…?"

"Blaise. Jacques Blaise. Heard what happened to Sokolov. So, I assume you are the ambitious red headed woman that is taking his place."

"I'm still on probation for now. But yes. Are you also one of Akula Molot's subbosses?"

"Not exactly. I work personally with him, but my talents lie in more physical matters."

"So, his personal goon."

"I prefer fix man. But is not as he would need any, truth be told."

Before Sara could ask what he meant, the atmosphere in the room suddenly changed. Most people suddenly went very quiet, and it didn't took much to guess why.

Akula Molot had just arrived.


End file.
